British Columbia’s state-of-the-art animal health lab in Abbotsford has received accreditation from an international organization that recognizes B.C. and the lab’s excellence in veterinary diagnostic testing, Agriculture Minister Pat Pimm announced today.

The Accreditation Committee of the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians (AAVLD) have granted a five-year accreditation for all species to B.C’s Animal Health Centre. The B.C. government’s Fraser Valley-based centre handles approximately 5,000 case submissions per year and is one of only three laboratories in Canada accredited by the AAVLD as a veterinary diagnostic laboratory. The facility diagnoses, monitors and assists in controlling and preventing animal diseases in B.C., including bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), avian influenza, West Nile virus and porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED).

The accreditation committee review included a site visit to audit all facets of the Animal Health Centre last fall. Once the thorough audit was completed, a report was made to the accreditation committee which met and voted in February to grant a full accreditation extension to the Animal Health Centre expiring Dec. 31, 2018. The full accreditation acknowledges the centre’s adherence to the highest standards of quality control and quality assurance procedures.

The Animal Health Centre provides a wide range of high-quality, fee-for-service diagnostic testing to the livestock and veterinary industries including pathology, bacteriology, serology, molecular diagnostics and virology in animals, poultry and fish.

Media Contacts:

Dave Townsend
Government Communications and Public Engagement
Ministry of Agriculture
250 356-7098
250 889-5945 (cell)