Animal Disease Diagnostic Services

The animal disease diagnostic services provided by the AFBI Stormont and Omagh laboratories safeguard animal and public health by identifying the causes of disease in submitted material and promote the competitiveness of the agri-food industry.

Disease surveillance

Surveillance for notifiable, zoonotic (transmissible to humans) and emerging diseases forms an important part of this work. 

View the quarterly disease surveillance reports

Disease diagnosis

A comprehensive range of laboratory tests is available to assist in the diagnosis of animal disease and provide detailed information on the health status of herds and flocks.

Specialist advice on animal diseases is given to the agricultural industry and veterinary profession.

A high throughput of diagnostic work allows AFBI to identify outbreaks of notifiable diseases, new or emerging diseases, changes in patterns of endemic diseases and conditions appropriate for further research.

These activities underpin the animal health status of Northern Ireland.

All-Island Disease Surveillance Reports

AFBI launch a new bovine respiratory virus PCR test

To aid farmers and vets to control respiratory disease AFBI is now offering PCR testing for all the major respiratory disease viruses in cattle - Bovine Respiratory Syncytial virus (BRSV), Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis (IBR) and Parainfluenza virus type 3 (PI3). See Information on the PCR test.

Link to further information