NAHLN MS

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: The Mississippi Veterinary Research & Diagnostic Laboratory System (MVRDLS) participates in animal disease surveillance for selected foreign animal diseases and diseases of high economic impact through contractual arrangements with USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and the Mississippi Board of Animal Health (MBAH). Diseases currently included in the contracts with USDA or the MBAH are highly pathogenic avian influenza, exotic Newcastle disease, and classical swine fever. The laboratory also participates in chronic wasting disease surveillance in captive cervids through a contractual arrangement with the state veterinarian. Results from these surveillance activities are currently reported on a weekly or monthly basis by generating reports from our commercial laboratory information management software. During FY 2007 all faculty and staff of the Mississippi Veterinary Research & Diagnostic Laboratory and the Poultry Research & Diagnostic Laboratory participated in a functional laboratory exercise based on a high path avian influenza outbreak scenario. The Mississippi Veterinary Research & Diagnostic Laboratory System plan for FY 2008 will address Output 1: Diagnostics and Output 3: IT and Data Management. CSREES funding will be used to partially support personnel responsible for maintaining the laboratory information management software (UVIS) that is used to capture demographic data and test results on all of our testing programs supported by USDA and the Mississippi Board of Animal Health and to provide partial support for the UVIS maintenance agreement. The major use of 2008 CSREES funds will be to provide contractual IT support such as network engineering, network topology security, data recovery, hardware and software upgrades, and desktop support to the MVRDL and PRDL. By using a contractual arrangement for these services we will be able to leverage the funds to cover multiple different areas of expertise rather than hiring a single individual with one area of expertise. Continued funding from the CSREES NAHLN IT grant will address the following key elements of the NAHLN system: ?increased and more flexible capacity for laboratory support of routine and emergency animal disease diagnosis, including bioterrorism events; standardized, rapid diagnostic techniques used at state, regional, and national levels; secure communication, alert, and reporting systems; and modern equipment and experienced personnel.

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APPROACH: The MVRDL and PRDL conduct all of the regulatory testing done within our state laboratory system, including any testing done as part of the NAHLN. The normal work force for these two laboratories includes 10 faculty members (pathologists, poultry veterinarians, microbiologists, virologists, and molecular biologists) and approximately 30 staff positions. The two laboratories are housed together in one 40,000 square foot facility in Pearl, MS. Of the faculty and staff positions we have only one full time IT support staff member, Kenneth Wells, Coordinator of Computing Services. Our greatest need in information technology, as determined by our own internal assessment, an outside consulting firm, and the State of Mississippi ITS department, is to provide additional personnel support for IT infrastructure, desktop maintenance, and software maintenance for the MVRDL and PRDL. All of this structure is essential for day to day operations plus the MVRDL equipment provides our disaster recovery system for the laboratory system. Current budgetary constraints prevent the creation of additional state funded positions within the laboratories. The major use of 2008 CSREES NAHLN IT funds will be to provide contractual IT support such as network engineering, network topology security, data recovery, hardware and software upgrades, and desktop support to the MVRDL and PRDL. By using a contractual arrangement for these services we will be able to leverage the funds to cover multiple different areas of expertise rather than hiring a single individual with one area of expertise. This will also allow the existing staff person to concentrate more on future development and planning activities.