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Rabies Testing in North Dakota
August 21, 2009
To the users of the NDSU Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory:
There has been some confusion about the processing of North Dakota rabies submissions
subsequent to the changes in the law during the past legislative session. Here are
the options as they currently exist:
As of August 1st, 2009:
Human and non-human
exposure rabies testing is offered at the North Dakota State University Veterinary
Diagnostic Laboratory (NDSU-VDL) for a fee. Since the NDSU VDL does not receive
funding for rabies testing from the state, North Dakota residents will pay $47.00,
and Minnesota residents will pay $55.00. We can usually provide next day results
on rabies cases. This includes the direct fluorescent antibody (dFA) test as mandated
by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and histopathologic analysis
of selected portions of the brain. The NDSU-VDL has the ability to do rabies analysis
on carcasses of any animal of any size showing signs of central nervous system disease.
If necessary, the brain of any animal can be extracted at the laboratory followed
by appropriate carcass disposal. There is no additional charge for this service.
If a suspected rabies case does not yield positive results, additional analysis
can be done on the submitted sample at the request of the owner or referring practitioner.
General investigation (full workup to include rabies) requests should be made at
the time of submission so that tissues can be held for future testing. We also have
the capability to perform rabies immunohistochemistry on formalin-fixed samples
and have added a PCR assay to our menu of rabies tests. However, the dFA is the
test of choice on appropriate samples.
Please make sure you complete the rabies information on the back of our submission
form if human exposure is involved in order that appropriate reporting can be done.
The North Dakota Department of Health (NDDoH) will perform the dFA test on human
and non-human exposure cases for no charge. Call the NDDoH before submitting non-human
exposure cases to make sure the samples will be accepted as they reserve the right
to refuse based on case history. No additional testing will be done by the NDDoH
and they will not hold or forward samples to another laboratory for additional testing.
As always we appreciate your business. Feel free to contact us at 701-231-8307 if
you have any questions or comments.
Sincerely,
Neil Dyer, DVM, MS, Diplomate ACVP
Lab Director
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Please contact the laboratory if you have any questions (701-231-8307).