In terms of organizational priorities, we must continue to identify and implement measures that ensure our financial solvency; increase member engagement and member recognition; utilize more effective communication tools; clearly articulate and effectively message the value of quality to our stakeholders and potential partners; and entrust the new Executive Director to assess the administrative needs of the organization.

The next 12 months will pass very quickly. I welcome your input and I look forward to working with each of you to identify opportunities for growth and engagement.

[email protected]

(405) 744-6623

Keith Bailey DVM, PhD currently serves as director of the Oklahoma Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (OADDL) on the Oklahoma State University campus in Stillwater, OK. Dr. Bailey earned DVM and PhD degrees from the University of Missouri-Columbia and is board certified by the American College of Veterinary Pathologists. He has worked at three university-based veterinary diagnostic laboratories, a state veterinary diagnostic laboratory, and two biopharmaceutical companies. He has been a member of AAVLD for 26 years.

Dr. Bailey coordinates diagnostic cases on a daily basis and is involved in the instruction and training of anatomic pathology residents, graduate students and veterinary students. His primary research activity is collaborating with a team of researchers at the University of Arkansas to develop novel imaging techniques that allow the real-time assessment of the extent and completeness of tumor excision in human breast cancer patients.

Dr. Bailey is a member of the AAVLD’s Accreditation Committee and Pathology Committee. He also serves on the Coordinating Council for the National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN).

AAVLD membership is open to any individual interested in animal disease laboratory diagnosis. Memberships run by the calendar year (January-December) and membership dues payments are due by November 15th of preceding year to ensure inclusion in the membership directory and receipt of all six issues of JVDI. Note: In order to receive an Annual Meeting registration discounted rate you are required to be a current year AAVLD Member.

Submitted by: Tim Baszler and Dave Korcal: Co-Chairs

December 7, 2018

 

Greetings from the AAVLD Accreditation Committee!

 

The Committee has been busy in 2018 with “routine” activities maintaining the AAVLD Accreditation Program, and also spending considerable time on continual improvement of the process. There are currently 64 laboratories (42 main laboratories and 22 branch laboratories) across North America (USA and Canada) accredited under the AAVLD Accreditation Program. Another new laboratory was added in 2018, Prairie Diagnostic Services at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

 

Below are some specific highlights from CY2018.

 

Accreditation Committee membership changes

Two new members were added to the Accreditation Committee in 2018.

Committee membership follows AAVLD by-laws and published Committee SOPs and is considered annually. Potential Committee members are nominated from the Accreditation Auditor Pool with the goal of balancing administrative, quality management, discipline/technical, and auditing expertise. Welcome Beate and Jerry and thank you to their home laboratories for supporting their time invested toward the AAVLD Accreditation Program!

 

A big thank you to all the current AAVLD Accreditation Committee members for their many volunteer hours implementing the AAVLD Accreditation Program throughout the year. They are truly invested in helping all laboratories with continual improvement of laboratory quality assurance. The current Accreditation Committee Members can be found on-line at https://aavld.memberclicks.net/accreditation-1.

 

AAVLD Accreditation Requirements Updates on Horizon

ISO 17025:2017 :  The new version of ISO/IEC 17025, the international laboratory accreditation standard, on which the AAVLD Requirements for Accreditation are based, was published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in late 2017. During 2018 the Accreditation Committee conducted a “cross-talk” comparison between the AAVLD Accreditation Requirements and ISO 17025:2017. It was determined what parts of the AAVLD Requirements for Accreditation need to be revised in order to maintain compatibility with ISO 17025:2017. This compatibility will serve our laboratory client needs for reliable, accurate and universally accepted test results coming from laboratories accredited under the AAVLD Accreditation Program. The major revisions will likely center around ongoing demonstration of impartiality, ongoing risk assessment for a laboratory QMS and more detailed information technology (LIMS and data management) requirements.

 

A revision of the AAVLD Requirements for Accreditation will be drafted, submitted for comment, and finalized in 2019. In 2020, the AC would create “cross talk” guidelines for laboratories to convert their QMS to be in compliance with the revised AAVLD Requirements and train auditors to audit to the revised AAVLD Requirements. Conducting “in cycle” re-accreditation site visits for compliance under the revised requirements is tentatively scheduled to begin in CY2021.

 

Auditor Training Events

 

Laboratory Audit Evaluation

 

 

 If you have questions concerning the Accreditation Committee, please don’t hesitate to contact either Tim or Dave at ( https://aavld.memberclicks.net/contacts ). 

The goal of JVDI in Focus is to bring attention to an interesting article appearing in the Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation . This month’s focus is on an article in the November issue: “Development of a multiplex real-time PCR assay using two thermocycling platforms for detection of major bacterial pathogens associated with bovine respiratory disease complex from clinical samples” by John D. Loy, Laura Leger, Aspen M. Workman, Michael L. Clawson, Ece Bulut, and Bing Wang.

J Vet Diagn Invest 2018;30(6)

 

Abstract . Bovine respiratory disease complex (BRDC) is one of the most significant diseases of cattle. Bacterial pathogens involved in BRDC include Mannheimia haemolytica , Mycoplasma bovis , Histophilus somni , and Pasteurella multocida . We developed and evaluated a multiplexed real-time hydrolysis probe (rtPCR) assay using block-based Peltier and rotary-based thermocycling on lung tissue, nasal swabs, and deep nasopharyngeal swabs. The rtPCR results were compared to culture or a gel-based M. bovis PCR using statistical analysis to determine optimum quantification cycle (Cq) cutoffs to maximize agreement. The limits of detection were 1.2–12 CFU/reaction for each pathogen. M. haemolytica was the most prevalent organism detected by rtPCR, and was most frequently found with P. multocida . The rtPCR assay enabled enhanced levels of detection over culture for all pathogens on both thermocycling platforms. The rotary-based thermocycler had significantly lower Cq cutoffs (35.2 vs. 39.7), which maximized agreement with gold standard culture or gel-based PCR results following receiver operating characteristic analysis to maximize sensitivity (Se) and specificity (Sp). However, overall assay Se and Sp were similar on both platforms (80.5% Se, 88.8% Sp vs. 80.1% Se, 88.3% Sp). Implementation of these tests could enhance the detection of these pathogens, and with high-throughput workflows could reduce assay time and provide more rapid results. The assays may be especially valuable in identifying coinfections, given that many more antemortem samples tested in our study were positive for 2 or more pathogens by rtPCR ( n = 125) than were detected using culture alone ( n = 25).

 

  

JVDI News

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Questions or comments?

Contact Holly Farrell, [email protected]