What we do

The serology section at the Veterinary diagnostic laboratory (VDL) typically offers a variety of tests that detect antibodies or antigens against various infectious diseases of animals. These tests help diagnose infectious diseases, monitor herd/flock health, conduct disease surveillance, epidemiological investigations and pre import and export testing. The most common samples tested are serum, plasma, oral fluid, ear notches, and milk samples submitted to the VDL.

Services provided by the serology section include detection and identification of production animals, companion animals, and zoo/wildlife species. 

The various categories of the tests conducted to identify bacterial or viral antibodies include:

• Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assays (ELISA)
• Indirect fluorescent antibody (IFA) tests
• Serum/virus Neutralization (SN/VN) tests
• Hemagglutination Inhibition (HI) tests
• Macroscopic Agglutination tests to detect antigens such as CARD, Buffered acidified plate test, Standard tube tests and Fluorescence polarization assay
• Microscopic Agglutination tests (MAT)
• Agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID) tests

Research and development are a part of the mission of the University of Minnesota Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. The section is involved with development and validation of diagnostic serology tests, conduct research related to studying antibody responses following infection or vaccination, conduct seroprevalence studies in animal and wildlife populations and is available for collaboration for such studies. 

Samples must be received at least 1 business day before the scheduled testing day. New client accounts can take up to 2-3 business days to establish before testing can begin. Samples may not always be tested on the first scheduled day after they arrive; however, it is our goal to complete testing within the posted turnaround time. If rush testing is desired, or submission of a large volume of samples for testing, please contact us prior to shipping the samples.