Annual Report of the
Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory
Fiscal Year 1997
Office of Agricultural Research Programs

This is the seventeenth annual report of the activities of the Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory.

The Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (ADDL) consists of the central ADDL at West Lafayette (ADDL-WL) and the southern branch of the ADDL at Southern Indiana Purdue Agricultural Center (ADDL-SIPAC). The ADDL originated as an ancillary service of the testing laboratory for vaccines and antisera to be used for the prevention and control of Hog Cholera in Indiana in 1912. Testing for Brucellosis (Bang’s Disease) was added in the early 1930’s. The official ADDL was established in Section 1, Chapter 68 of the Acts of the Indiana Legislature of 1945. The branch laboratory (ADDL-SIPAC) began in 1969 as a diagnostic laboratory to serve the poultry industry in southern Indiana. Additional facilities at ADDL-SIPAC were completed in 1977 to provide mammalian diagnostic services. Construction of the new ADDL-WL facilities began in 1989 and was completed and dedicated June 11, 1991.

The ADDL system is dedicated to reducing animal suffering, helping control the State’s multi-million dollar losses from animal disease, poisonings and parasites, reducing the threat of disease and poisonings common to animals and man, aiding in research, education and diagnostic service in veterinary medicine, and assisting in ensuring a nutritious and disease free source of animal derived food and products to consumers. The Laboratories’ objectives are to provide accurate and prompt diagnostic service to veterinary practitioners, animal producers, companion animal owners, wildlife conservationists, animal researchers and state/federal regulatory officials. Various sections of the ADDL system that work in concert to achieve these objectives include avian diseases, bacteriology, computer services, pathology, serology, toxicology and virology sections. The ADDL is accredited as a full service, all species veterinary medical diagnostic laboratory by the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians.

ADDL-SIPAC is located between Ind. 56 and Ind. 164 in eastern Dubois County on the Southern Indiana Purdue Agricultural Center. The ADDL-WL is located on the main campus of Purdue University adjacent to the School of Veterinary Medicine. The primary clientele for the services of the ADDL are the livestock and poultry producers of the state as well as owners of companion animals, all of whom have benefited from the diagnostic services provided by the ADDL. Accomplishments of the ADDL include assistance to producers in diagnosing and controlling disease problems, providing serological services required for sale, exhibition and exportation, and providing research assistance to evaluating previously and newly recognized animal diseases.