Dr. Yanyun Huang, chief executive officer of Prairie Diagnostic Services, said the expanding number of infectious diseases elevates the importance of laboratory testing. 
PDS, 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. Huang said, while infectious disease is one of the significant problems in the food production animal sectors, the diagnostic toolbox is expanding. 
“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,” he said. “On the other hand, new infectious diseases, new infectious agents keep coming up.” 
Further, the types of symptoms any infectious agents can cause animals are limited. For example, diarrhea is one symptom that different pathogens can cause. Pneumonia is one symptom that multiple pathogens can cause.  
Dr. Huang said when new infectious diseases and agents keep coming up, on the one hand; there are limited kinds of clinical symptoms. However, there is an increasing list of differential diagnoses on each clinical symptom, so there is a need to rule out more. In this context laboratory, testing has become more critical in making the correct diagnosis. 
“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,” he said. 
Dr. Huang said high-throughput genomic sequencing is helping to revolutionize the identification of the pathogens that cause disease. 
In the past, the use of genetic testing in veterinary diagnostic labs was limited; however, the tide has turned in recent years. The evolution of these tests enables their use in routine diagnostics. 
He said an umbrella of genomic methods called high-throughput sequencing offers several advantages. High-throughput sequencing has the potential as a so-called one for all test because it can detect or reveal all the genes or genetic information in a given sample. 
“For example, if we put a piece of pig tissue into the sequencer, it can detect the pig DNA and RNA,” he said. “On the other hand, it can also detect all the bacteria DNA, all the virus DNA and RNA, so in one sample, you have all of the genetic information. There are some genes, the sequencer can detect.” 
And the new platforms of these sequencers can be relatively quick, at least as quick as the current diagnostics methods they’re using, but some are very quick and can generate results in minutes or hours. 
Dr. Huang said some of the new sequencing platforms could be portable with some sequencers as small as a jump drive plugged into a laptop computer and deployed to the field. 
“It was this type of sequencing used to identify the virus responsible for COVID-19.” •
— By Harry Siemens