Ohio ADDL Fall 2022

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Ohio Department of Agriculture   -   Fall 2022

In This Issue

-Quarter Horse Congress

-Bacteriology Section

-Training Workshops

-Q-fever


Contact us

Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory

8995 East Main Street Building #6

Reynoldsburg, OH 43068

Phone: (614) 728-6220

Fax: (614 ) 728-6310

Email: 

animal@agri.ohio.gov


ADDL Hours

Monday - Friday

8:00 AM to 5:00 PM

 

Excluding the following holidays:

  • New Years Day
  • Martin Luther King Day
  • President's Day
  • Memorial Day
  • Juneteenth
  • Independence Day
  • Labor Day
  • Columbus Day
  • Veteran's Day
  • Thanksgiving
  • Christmas

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Quarter Horse Congress Logo

Quarter Horse Congress Testing Reminders

Anne Parkinson, B.S., Serology Section Head

 

The 2022 All-American Quarter Horse Congress will be held starting on Tuesday, September 27th and will run thru Sunday, October 23rd at the Ohio Exposition Center in Columbus, Ohio. The Congress is the largest single breed horse show in the US with more than 17,000 entries and 6,000 horses. The ADDL is prepared to provide Equine Infectious Anemia Virus (EIAV) testing 7 days a week in support of this event. Samples may be dropped off to the lab from 8AM to 5PM, M-F during normal business hours.  The EIAV ELISA test results are provided on the SAME day for samples received by 12 noon weekdays. Samples received after noon on weekdays will be reported the following day.

 

To arrange weekend, holiday or after-hours testing contact Anne Parkinson, Serology Section Head, at 614-989-8036. For weekend/holiday submissions (including Monday - October 10th, Columbus Day) samples must arrive at the lab by 10 AM to receive same day results. Test costs are $5.60/sample, plus an $8.00 accession fee for in-state samples and $8.40/sample, plus a $10 accessioning fee for out-of-state samples. In addition, a $75.00 charge will be assessed for all accessions tested on the weekend, holiday, or after-hours. Cash, checks, or credit cards must accompany after-hours submissions.

 

When submitting EIAV samples please use the Ohio Equine Infectious Anemia Test Record and include “Quarter Horse Congress” at the top of the form above the owner’s name. Serum samples for EIAV testing must be collected by a veterinarian that is licensed and accredited by the State of Ohio. Results for these submissions will be emailed to the submitting veterinarian thru the Quarter Horse Congress Hall office – unless other arrangements are made by the submitting veterinarian. If you have questions during normal business hours, please contact Anne Parkinson (Anne.Parkinson@agri.ohio.gov), 614-995-1495 (direct office) - or call the main lab line at 614-728-6220 for assistance.

 

Please see the Quarter Horse Congress Entry Book located on the Congress website here. - on bottom of page 10 for info on show health requirements. Also note that Ohio DOES NOT accept the Extended Equine CVI (EECVI) for entry to the show.

 

ADDL Payments

 

Meet the Section: Bacteriology

Dominika Jurkovic, Ph.D., Central Receiving Section Head

 

The Bacteriology Section is responsible for the culture and isolation and identification of diagnostic, surveillance, and import & export testing of bacterial agents of disease. Under the leadership of Dr. Jing Cui, Bacteriology Section Head, the section completed just over 24,000 tests with Salmonella, Campylobacter, and Tritrichomonas culturing being the top 3 tests completed. Bacteriology continues to collaborate with both federal and state partners to investigate human-related illness involving animals, most recently, Campylobacter jejuni in dogs. Antimicrobial resistance is a significant public health problem which is why Bacteriology contributes to AMR surveillance programs directed by FDA Vet-LIRN and NAHLN. In the past six months, the section has undergone a transition as staff have earned promotions within ADDL. Kathy Mockler (Laboratory Scientist 2) and Rocio Nava (LS2), are now joined by Dr. Chris Madden (LS3), Dr. Ben Jahnes (LS2), and Issac Dryer (LS1) to fulfill all your bacteriology testing needs.

 

Bacteriology Group Photo

Bottom Row L-R: Dr. Chris Madden, Dr. Ben Jahnes, and Issac Dryer. Top Row L-R: Dr. Rocio Nava, Dr. Jing Cui, Kathy Mockler, Alescia Roberto (Molecular/Bact)

 

Dr. Chris Madden earned his B.S. from The Ohio State University and his Ph.D. from Arizona State University. After completing his post-doctoral fellowship at Cambridge University, he served as the Laboratory Safety and Compliance Officer at Ohio University from 2015-2018. From 2018 until joining ADDL, Chris was a Research Associate and Lab Manager for a microbiome research laboratory at the OSU College of Veterinary Medicine investigating the role of microbiota in health and disease and how microbes may be used to alter disease progression. Dr. Madden’s scientific interests include culturing difficult organisms, the effect of microbe-host interactions on disease progression, and the clinical significance of mutations in antimicrobial resistance genes. Outside of ADDL, Chris enjoys spending time with his wife, son, 2 dogs, and 5 chickens in addition to gardening.

 

Dr. Ben Jahnes completed his undergraduate degree from Cornell University and earned his Ph.D. from The Ohio State University. As an undergraduate researcher, Ben studied medicine bioprospecting and the chemical ecology of insects. Dr. Jahnes’ graduate research focused on insect microbial symbioses, specifically cockroach gut bacterial community ecology. Aligning with his previous research experience, Ben is interested in plant and animal microbial symbioses. In this spare time, Ben has several hobbies outside of work: beekeeping, mushroom hunting, and fruit and nut tree propagation.

 

Issac Dryer recently graduated from The Ohio State University with a B.S. in Microbiology where he also worked part-time in the COVID-19 testing center. Issac’s microbiology interests are in antimicrobial resistance, diversity of microorganisms in soil and water and how these environmental organisms affect humans and animals. When not at ADDL, Issac enjoys playing the clarinet, hiking, and spending time with his family and friends.

 


ADDL attends Training Workshops

Qirui (Ray) Zhang, Ph.D. and Ashley Johnson, M.S.

Virology & Molecular Diagnostics 

 

The National Poultry Improvement Plan (NPIP) was established in the early 1930's to provide a cooperative industry, state, and federal program through which new diagnostic technology can be effectively applied to the improvement of poultry and poultry products throughout the country. As a NPIP authorized laboratory, and the only one in Ohio, ADDL sends a representative to attend technician training every 3 years. Ray Zhang, Laboratory Scientist 3, attended this year's Avian Influenza Testing Workshop held in July at the University of Georgia Poultry Diagnostic and Research Center. During the workshop, Ray was able to network with USDA officials, the peers from other animal disease diagnostic laboratories in other states including Indiana, Wyoming, Maine, Utah etc., and representatives from several commercial companies as well as shown in the group picture below.

 

NPIP AI Workshop Group Photo

Group Photo from NPIP AI Workshop

 

In August, Ashley Johnson (Virology Interim Section Head) attended a 3-day Bioinformatics Workshop at the University of Virginia (UVA) in Charlottesville, VA hosted by the Bacterial and Viral Bioinformatics Resource Center (BV-BRC) team. The interactive, hands-on workshop showed researchers how to use the new BV/BRC website, which is a merger of the two long running bacterial and viral BRC resources, PATRIC and IRD/ViPR. The third day of the workshop focused on using their command-line interface for bioinformatics data analysis.

 

Workshop Group Photo

Group Photo from BV-BRC Bioinformatics Workshop


Q-fever; its not a query anymore!

Emily Janovyak, DVM, USDA ORISE Fellow

 

If you keep small ruminants, chances are you’ve heard of Q-fever. But did you know that it can affect many other species, including humans? Q fever is caused by Coxiella burnetii, a bacteria that infects the cells of host animals.  It was recognized as a human disease in the mid 1930’s, when the ‘Q’ stood for ‘query’ (question) because cause of this disease was not known. Q-fever is present worldwide. In the United States, cases of human infection must be reported to health authorities whereas animal cases are monitored but reporting of cases is not required.  Surveys indicate a high prevalence of infected animals in the USA but, according to the CDC, only 1-2 hundred cases in humans each year.

 

Coxiella burnetii can infect many species of mammals, birds and arthropods. But it is most significantly a problem with ruminants. Animals can transmit the disease by direct contact, either inhaling or ingesting the bacteria from the amniotic fluid/placenta, milk, urine or feces of infected animals. It can persist in the environment for weeks to months, so contaminated pastures can be a source of infection. Some ticks can also transmit the disease, although ticks are not a significant source of infections. Most human cases come from populations who have had contact with infected tissues such as veterinarians, farmers or slaughterhouse workers. Consuming raw (unpasteurized) milk has also been a source of infection in humans.

 

In animals, infection can cause loss of appetite, late term abortions and ‘abortion storms;’ high numbers of abortions happening all at once in the same flock or herd. However, infected animals are often asymptomatic even though they still shed the bacterium.  In humans it may cause a range of flu-like symptoms and can cause abortion in pregnant women.

The ADDL offers two tests for Q-fever, serology and PCR. Veterinarians attending sick or aborting animals will determine which test is applicable. The serology test is a complement fixation (CF) test, a multi-step process that tests for the presence of antibodies in the patient's serum. This result indicates if the patient's body responded to the presence of the bacteria. For PCR testing, which tests for genetic material from the bacteria itself, placenta is the most valuable specimen to test because the bacterium has an affinity for placental tissue.  Although it is a bacteria, it is not cultured in the lab due to the high risk to humans directly handling the organisms. Please check the ADDL website for test fees and scheduled testing days.

 

Treatment is of limited efficacy. If abortions do occur in your herd or flock, carefully collect fetal tissue and fluid, especially placenta, for your veterinarian to submit for testing. The best control comes from practicing careful hygiene, especially around parturition. Clean barns/birthing areas thoroughly, limit human exposure by wearing gloves and masks, and do not have higher-risk individuals, such as pregnant women, handle potentially infected tissues. In short, the best defense against Q-fever is to keep things s-Q-ueeky clean!