The purchase of the new equipment will allow VDS to more efficient meet the veterinary diagnostic testing needs of the citizens of new mexico as well as the those required of US as a member of nahln

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) awarded a $150,000 Block Grant to New Mexico State University (NMSU) under the Plant and Animal Disease, Pest Control, and Animal Care Federal Grant Program (CFDA 10.025). The funding will enable NMSU to purchase new equipment and software to enhance its veterinary diagnostic testing capabilities and operational efficiency. Specifically, the grant will fund the acquisition of a new microtome, a reagent dispenser/plate washer, and software to integrate a digital slide scanner with the laboratory information management system (LIMS). These upgrades will improve the consistency of histology slide preparation, reduce staff fatigue and exposure to repetitive motion injuries, and enable more efficient utilization of off-site veterinary pathologists. The award will also support an update to the LIMS user interface to streamline data entry and reporting for NAHLN (National Animal Health Laboratory Network) testing. The project period runs from June 1, 2024 to May 31, 2025.

The purchase of the updated user interface for the lims will shorten time for data entry, make IT easier to retrieve data, and make IT easier to message the results of nahln tests. The current microtome in use has been discontinued by the manufacturer and likely will not be able to be supported for much longer. In addition, IT is only partially automated. A new fully automated microtome will improve the consistency of h &e stained glass slides, reduce the histotechnician's fatigue, and reduce exposure to repetitive motion injury. A new reagent dispenser/plate washer will help reduce laboratorian fatigue and exposure to repetitive motion injury increasing the accuracy of results particularly with testing for equine infectious anemia and equine piroplasmosis testing. Software that interfaces our new digital slide scanner with an updated lims interface will allow VDS to more efficiently utilize contract veterinary pathologists that are off-site and free up time for full-time veterinary pathologists and administrative personnel to complete their regular tasks.