Safeguarding public and animal health

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VLA Global

With deepening globalisation and ever more rapid movement of goods, animals and people, the world is becoming increasingly small. A problem in one part of the world is also potentially someone else's problem the next day.

Alongside this fact is the increasing need for harmonisation of mitigation and response activities, rapid sharing of intelligence and alerting, and international schemes for mutual assurance.

International reference laboratory status

As a world class veterinary institute, VLA is the designated international reference laboratory for many infectious and non-infectious diseases.

Some of the services that we have provided as part of reference laboratory status include:

• Expert consultancy on topics such as surveillance and control of disease.
• Standardisation of diagnostic techniques.
• scientific and technical training.
• Co-ordination of research studies in collaboration with other laboratories or organisations.

We have established OIE twinning projects with the following institutes:

• Changchun Veterinary Research Institute, P.R.China - classical swine fever and rabies
• Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute, South Africa - avian influenza and Newcastle disease
• Botswana National Veterinary Laboratory - avian influenza and Newcastle disease
• Pendick Veterinary Control and Research Institute (PVCRI), Turkey – brucellosis

International committee membership

We are represented on over 70 international committees. This is recognition of the increasing profile of VLA scientists as DG Research and DG SANCO consultants, for advice to Working Groups and reviewing research projects, and in various roles within the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC).

This enables VLA scientists to play an active part in shaping the development of future veterinary policy worldwide.

Many scientists are also members of the editorial boards of top international scientific journals.

Collaborations

We deliver many of our services via collaborations and partnerships with universities and scientific institutes in the UK and overseas.

These relationships maximise outputs and increase the pool of professional knowledge and experience available to our Government and the private sector customers.

Vetqas

Vetqas is VLA’s proficiency testing service for veterinary laboratories.

We have been the market leader for over 30 years and currently offer 70 schemes commercially issuing over 20,000 samples a year to laboratories around the world.

Samples issued include serum, blood, animal feed and tissue for a variety of tests including the diagnosis of simulated bacterial clinical specimens, ELISAs and many more.

Our proficiency testing electronic reporting website offers a fast, simple and efficient way of submitting results and receiving final reports.

Veterinary reagents

We produce a wide range of specialist diagnostic reagents and around 100 of these are sold commercially to veterinary diagnostic laboratories in countries worldwide generating an income of almost £500k.

Consultancy

Our unique breadth of veterinary and scientific skills on a wide range of animal diseases enables us to offer a comprehensive consultancy service to our customers overseas.

This ranges from our work on vaccine development to epidemiology and risk analysis and diagnostic test development. Examples include:

• Consultancy to Vietnam on the 'pig high fever disease'.
• Training on classical and African swine fever in Kazakhstan.
• Technical assistance for the control of rabies in Turkey.
• Key member of OFFLU, the joint OIE-FAO network on avian influenza.

International conferences

In September 2009, we hosted the first VLA international conference, Animal Diseases 2009. We attracted over 400 delegates from 28 countries reflecting the level of interest in the topics covered over the three day event. 

In recent years, we have hosted:

• The 4th International Brucellosis Research Conference with 300 delegates from 60 countries.
• The 2006 Institute of Mycoplasma Conference with 256 delegates from 33 countries.
• The 6th International Symposium of Avian Influenza with 267 delegates from 49 countries.

Global health education

VLA is one of three collaborating institutes delivering a new masters degree in Global Health: Pathogens and Policy.

The course will address public and animal health issues and international policy relevant to global health, including policy issues arising from climate change and poor governance.