The Atlantic Veterinary College (AVC) opened its new Foreign Animal Disease testing laboratory in 2026. The laboratory focuses on the investigation and diagnosis of foreign animal diseases – infectious diseases that are not normally present in Canada but could pose significant risks to livestock, wildlife, industry, and the agricultural economy.
The Foreign Animal Disease Laboratory is working with the National Centre for Foreign Animal Disease (NCFAD) and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) to increase the foreign animal disease (FAD) testing capacity in Atlantic Canada. Through specialized diagnostic capabilities, scientific expertise, and collaboration with veterinary and animal health professionals, this state-of-the-art laboratory is instrumental for disease surveillance, early detection, and preparedness for emerging animal health threats to our agricultural sectors in the Atlantic provinces.
In addition to supporting disease surveillance and diagnostic testing in domestic animal populations, the laboratory contributes to the investigation of wildlife health through the testing of wildlife samples. This testing supports the detection and monitoring of infectious diseases in wild animal populations, improved understanding of disease transmission between wildlife and domestic animals and strengthens the surveillance of and preparedness for emerging animal health threats.
The laboratory’s commitment to quality and reliable diagnostic results is further supported by its ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation, an internationally recognized standard for testing and calibration laboratory competence. Maintaining accreditation requires a standard of practice that supports the reliability of laboratory results that is particularly important when testing for foreign animal diseases.
For more information about submission requirements, please refer to the following documents: – FAD Sample Submission Guidelines
– Inf-A Sample Collection Guidelines – Domestic Animals
– Inf-A Sample Collection Guidelines – Dairy Cattle
– Inf-A Sample Collection Guidelines – Wildlife
– APMV-1 Sample Collection Guidelines
Submission forms:
– Foreign Animal Disease Submission form – pdf
– Foreign Animal Disease Submission form – excel
Please contact the FAD laboratory for assistance by email at rdvsavcds@upei.ca or by phoning 902-566-0877 from Monday to Friday 8:00 am to 4:30pm (AST).