Fda Vet-lrn Site Application

PROJECT SUMMARY Foodborne illness causes significant morbidity and mortality each year in the United States.Rapid detection and response to potential foodborne disease outbreaks is necessary to limit thenumber of people and animals affected. Detection of outbreaks in a large country such as theUnited States requires the ability to collect samples from geographically diverse areas. Withinthe United States, Salmonella infection is the leading cause of human death due to foodborneillness. Recent outbreaks of human salmonellosis associated with pet food have demonstratedthe need for improved detection of salmonellosis and other foodborne diseases in veterinarypatients. Detection of foodborne outbreaks requires the ability to rapidly analyze samples fromanimals, their environment, their food, and drugs. We propose to provide additional capacity fordetection of bacterial pathogens in such samples and to serve as a sample analysis site as partof the part of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Veterinary Laboratory Response Network(Vet-LRN) Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory Cooperative Agreement Program. We currentlyserve as an FDA site for detection of Salmonella in samples from dogs and cats. As such, wehave helped to develop methods, participated in proficiency testing, and are currently analyzingsamples.