Wales boosts animal disease testing with new centre at Aberystwyth University
The funding will allow the university to begin the process of designating the centre to handle notifiable animal diseases, including bluetongue
Aberystwyth University will host Wales's first high throughput testing centre for animal diseases following a £265,000 investment announced by the Welsh Government.
The funding will allow the university to begin the process of designating the centre to handle notifiable animal diseases, including bluetongue, from its VetHub1 secure containment facility.
Livestock farmers and animal health officials will benefit from quicker regional testing, as current disease samples are sent outside Wales for processing.
Huw Irranca-Davies, the Deputy First Minister with responsibility for Climate Change and Rural Affairs, said: “I’m delighted to announce this funding which will begin building more resilience in our animal disease testing.
"The centre will strengthen long-term disease surveillance capacity within Wales...
- reducing response times during outbreaks and sharing surge outbreak capacity. Recent experience of the bluetongue outbreak and avian influenza has showed us that enhanced capacity is crucial as we tackle future disease threats."
Aberystwyth University is currently the only facility in Wales equipped to carry out this type of specialised testing.
"It lays the groundwork for a facility that could play a vital role in protecting livestock"
Professor Iain Barber, Pro Vice-Chancellor for the Faculty of Sciences at Aberystwyth University, said:
“We’re excited to begin this important scoping exercise, which marks the first step toward strengthening Wales’s capacity for rapid animal disease testing.
"While this is an early stage in the process, it lays the groundwork for a facility that could play a vital role in protecting livestock and supporting biosecurity in the future.”
The centre will comply with standards set by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service and the Specified Animal Pathogens Order to ensure testing accuracy and reliability.
Once operational, it is expected to create jobs and contribute 'significantly to Wales’s role in the UK’s broader biosecurity efforts'.