About Us

The Colorado State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratories plays a major role in a statewide, national, and global animal and zoonotic disease surveillance system that seeks to protect the health of livestock, companion animals, and the general public.

As part of state and federal surveillance programs, the laboratory is a member of the Laboratory Response Network Partners in Preparedness, and works in partnership with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and the Centers for Disease Control.

The laboratory assists the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Colorado Division of Wildlife, and the Colorado Department of Agriculture with surveillance for a number of high-profile agents, including coronavirus, avian influenza virus, chronic wasting disease, and mad cow disease.

The CSU Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratories is accredited by the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians.

women processing samples under fume hood

Facilities

The Colorado State University Diagnostic Medicine Center is home to the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratories, with 90,000 square feet of space dedicated to diagnostic services, clinical pathology, and disease surveillance. The facility includes sealed Biosafety Level 3 laboratories approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for handling highly infectious select agents.

News

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CSU researchers investigate cause of spike in canine respiratory disease

Colorado State University researchers are investigating whether a contagious illness that has led to a spike in the number of upper respiratory infections in canines along Colorado’s Front Range is due to a new pathogen or an organism that is already known and recognized as a cause of respiratory disease in dogs.

State Magazine: Virus lurks in birds

“This virus is very easy to transmit, so the outbreak has been really, really challenging. We can’t remove the virus from wild birds, so there’s always a risk for spillover of the virus to commercial and backyard poultry and occasionally to mammals.” -Dr. Kristy Pablionia

NPR Science Friday: Unprecedented Avian Flu Outbreak Continues

LISTEN: Host Ira Flatow talks with Dr. Kristy Pabilonia, professor and director of the Veterinary Diagnostics Laboratories at Colorado State University.

Ag Daily: Equine infectious anemia reported in horse brought to Colorado

The Colorado Department of Agriculture’s State Veterinarians Office was notified on March 28, 2023 that a horse residing in Garfield County had tested presumptive positive for Equine Infectious Anemia. The initial test was completed at Colorado State University’s Western Slope Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory with the confirmatory test completed at the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, on April 4, 2023.

50-year milestone: Spraker reflects on discoveries, travels

When asked what memories stick out the most from his five decades working at Colorado State University, Dr. Terry Spraker lists discovering the first case of chronic wasting disease in an elk, working with a young pathologist named Tony Frank and the burning of Old Main in 1970.

CBS News Colorado: Law enforcement community in Jefferson County mourns death of K-9 officer

Graffit’s body was taken in a procession from the scene of his death to Fort Collins late Monday morning. A necropsy will be performed on the animal’s body at the Colorado State University’s veterinary center.