THE ROLE AND IMPORTANCE OF VETERINARY LABORATORIES IN THE PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF INFECTIOUS-DISEASES OF ANIMALS

Veterinary laboratories which deal with infectious diseases form three groups according to the tasks for which they are responsible. The fir st group includes central or national veterinary laboratories, nationa l or international reference laboratories, high-security laboratories, district, regional or state veterinary diagnostic laboratories. The m ajor role of these laboratories is to assist national Veterinary Servi ces in diagnosing infectious animal diseases. The second group compris es laboratories that produce veterinary diagnostic kits and those that produce veterinary vaccines. The third group is composed of veterinar y research laboratories, which generally concentrate on basic research and do not contribute directly to the diagnosis and control of infect ious animal diseases. The author describes the objectives of each of t he three groups of laboratories.