A new £1.6m centre for animal disease has opened in Scotland and it is expected the lab will analyse more than a million samples a year.
The opening of the centre for animal disease surveillance will create more reliable and efficient diagnoses of livestock diseases for Scotland.
It will help to protect and develop Scotland's valuable livestock sector and the contribution it makes to the rural economy.
Based near Edinburgh, the new Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) Veterinary and Analytical Laboratory expects to analyse more than a million samples a year.
Diagnosing disease faster has the potential to improve response times to potential outbreaks to safeguard both animal and human health and protect the food chain.
And thanks to investment in new equipment, more tests can be carried out. Longer tests, which involve culturing bacteria, can now be done in under two days rather than six.
The Scottish government has supported the creation of the new laboratory through a low-cost loan from the Scottish Funding Council’s Financial Transactions Programme.
The laboratory is based at the Moredun Research Institute at the Pentlands Science Park in Midlothian.
The opening of the lab signals a closer working relationship between SRUC and the Moredun Research Institute to advance livestock health, welfare production, disease surveillance through joint research.
