Wales strengthens animal disease testing capability
© Welsh Government The Welsh government is strengthening the country’s animal disease testing capacity and has provided £265,000 to Aberystwyth University to establish a specialist diagnostic centre.
This will enable regional disease testing and strengthen long-term disease surveillance capacity within Wales, reducing response times during outbreaks and sharing surge outbreak capacity.
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The funding marks the first step towards designating the university as Wales’s first high-throughput testing centre for notifiable animal diseases, including bluetongue.
Wales deputy first minister Huw Irranca-Davies said: “Recent experience of the bluetongue outbreak and avian influenza has shown us that enhanced capacity is crucial as we tackle future disease threats.
“This is a very positive beginning, and I look forward to working with our colleagues at Aberystwyth University.”
Strengthen capacity
Aberystwyth University is understood to be the only facility in Wales with the infrastructure and facilities to undertake this type of testing.
The centre will operate from the university’s VetHub, which provides secure containment facilities.
Currently, notifiable disease samples are sent outside of Wales for processing.
Iain Barber, pro vice-chancellor for the faculty of sciences at Aberystwyth University, said: “We’re excited to begin this important scoping exercise, which marks the first step toward strengthening Wales’s capacity for rapid animal disease testing.”
Protecting livestock
While the process is in the early stages, Prof Barber added it lays the groundwork for a facility that could “play a vital role in protecting livestock and supporting biosecurity in the future”.
The Welsh government said the designation process will enable the facility to deliver testing recognised by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service and be compliant with Specified Animal Pathogens Order standards.
The centre is also expected to create skilled jobs and strengthen Wales’s contribution to UK biosecurity.