SwineHealth News for September 21, 2020

The CEO of Prairie Diagnostic Services says the expanding number of infectious diseases is elevating the importance of laboratory testing.
Prairie Diagnostic Services, located at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, is a full function not for profit diagnostic laboratory which provides a full spectrum of veterinary diagnostic services for all species.
Dr. Yanyun Huang, the Chief Executive Officer and an Anatomic Pathologist with Prairie Diagnostic Services, says, while infectious disease is still one of the major problems in the food production animal sectors, the diagnostic toolbox is expanding.

Clip-Dr. Yanyun Huang-Prairie Diagnostic Services:
One thing we need to understand is that, in the past several decades in North America, I don't think we have eliminated or eradicated many animal infectious diseases.
On the other hand new infectious diseases, new infectious agents keep coming up.
Further, the types of symptoms any infectious agents can to cause animals are limited.
For example diarrhea is one symptom that can be caused by different pathogens.
Pneumonia, one symptom that can be caused by multiple pathogens.
When new infectious diseases, new infectious agents keep coming up, you can see on one hand we have limited kinds of clinical symptoms however on each clinical symptom we have in increasing list of differential diagnosis so we need to rule out more and more things.
In this context that I think laboratory testing has become more and more important in making the correct diagnosis.

Dr. Huang says, to quote Mahatma Gandhi, a correct diagnosis is three fourths of the remedy so any improvement in the diagnostic sciences is going to help us better manage and treat animal diseases.
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Bruce Cochrane.

*SwineHealth News is produced in association with Farmscape.Ca and is a presentation of Wonderworks Canada Inc.