Recent meeting discusses advances in diagnostics
The Eurpoean Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnostics (EAVLD) recently met in Brussels to discuss the impact of technology on diagnostics. President Willie Loeffen noted:
"Technology is taking over. Laboratory diagnosis used to be 99 per cent labour and 1 per cent technology; nowadays the emphasis is the other way round. Technology is now an integral and indispensable part of veterinary laboratories."
The meeting was sponsored by biotechnology company Life Technology, and company director Kirk Adams discussed the value of modern diagnostic tools on farms. These tools provide the means to improve vaccination programmes and biosecurity, he said. Asymptomatic, persistently infected animals can be identified, which is essential for disease eradication and improving herd health. Adams also said that modern methods allow veterinarians to monitor herd health and screen for emerging disease threats. He added that diagnostics are now no longer simply a way of identifying the cause of an animal's death, but offer a range of other benefits:
"Better diagnostics allow a more targeted approach to treatment, and the potential to reduce the use of broad-spectrum drugs - such as certain antibiotics."
Kees van Maanen agreed that the development of modern diagnostics have contributed to the control of infectious diseases in production animals not just locally, but nationally and regionally too, though commented that it will not stop epidemics.
"Recent experience with unexpected disease outbreaks has shown that we can now characterise and track pathogens far more quickly and accurately than ever before," he said. Loeffen noted that it took four years to characterise the cause of PRRS (porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome), whereas Schmallenberg virus was characterised in only a few months.
Kees van Maanen said: "Diagnostics will continue to become a more integral part of animal health management in the next decade, we just need to make sure we can apply that knowledge in the best possible way."
Veterinary practices are being urged to help owners safely dispose of any unused and expired pet medicines - not just antibiotics - during November's Animal Medicines Amnesty. 
