ImmunoDX/Serology

Caprine (goat) and Ovine (sheep)

WADDL is a nationally recognized, AAVLD accredited, full-service, veterinary testing laboratory.  Our Immunodiagnostics Section Head, Dr. Jim Evermann, has worked at WADDL for over 40 years and has been instrumental in developing new tests for herd biosecurity and for disease diagnosis.  We have a dedicated and knowledgeable staff that is always willing to assist you with your testing needs.

  Our tests can help you with:

• herd health monitoring
• pregnancy status
• determining cause of abortions
• diagnosing sick animals
• maintaining biosecurity
• optimizing disease prevention strategies
• interstate and international transportation requirements
• show and sale entry requirements

What tests do I need?

We encourage you to work with your local veterinarian to determine specific testing needs. Tests can be ordered individually, as a profile, or as a screen.  Additional tests can be added to any profile or screen.

For general herd health, we offer the Small Ruminant Biosecurity Screen, which includes Caprine Arthritis Encephalitis/Ovine Progressive Pneumonia (CAE/OPP), Caseous Lymphadenitis (CL), and Johne's Disease.  The CAE & OPP tests are now collectively referred to as the small ruminant lentivirus (SRL). 

Your veterinarian may recommend additional tests based on your particular needs.

Additionally, if consuming or selling raw milk from your sheep or goats we recommend that you also test for Brucellosis and Q-fever.  Your veterinarian may consider testing your animals for tuberculosis via a skin test.  Specific requirements must be met for legal raw milk sales.  Please consult your state's Department of Agriculture or State Veterinarian for current information.

In addition, our Bacteriology section offers CL culture for the isolation and identification of the agent that causes CL.  Please refer to the Caseous Lymphadentitis (CL) Culture on our Web Test Search Tool for more information and sample submission.

For disease diagnosis of sick animals, we have several profiles available:

• Abortion Profile
• Respiratory Profile
• Ocular Profile

For a complete list of serology tests for goats type "goats serology" or for sheep type "sheep serology" in out Web Test Search Tool.

To assist in determining what would be the most appropriate tests to run on your animals, please contact the Consulting Microbiologist at (509) 335-9696.

What do I send?

Once you find the test(s) you're interested in on our Web Test Search Tool, click on the Details tab, to find the type of specimen, volume, and type of specimen to submit. Please refer to the table above to locate the commonly used tests. 

For most serological tests we require Red Top Tubes (RRT) or Serum Separator Tubes (SST).  We do not supply testing tubes, but they can be obtained from your local veterinarian, many farm supply stores, or online.

For most individual tests, we recommend 5-7ml of blood per animal.

If sending serum only, we recommend 1 mL for testing unless noted otherwise.

When do I send?

Samples may be sent at any time and will be tested on the next scheduled test run.  We are open Monday-Friday 8am-5pm and Saturdays 8am-noon. We do not test on Saturdays but we do accept deliveries. 

Please refer to the testing schedule below for when a sample should be sent in and when a test is ran.

*Samples received on the day the test is performed will NOT be tested that day.

How do I get samples there?

WADDL offers our clients discounted shipping through UPS.  Clients can ship Next Day Air for $15.00 or Ground for $7.00 (recommended for Washington, northern Idaho, and western Montana clients).  The discounted shipping is only available for clients who submit through our online submission process.  When submitting a case online, the option to use our discounted shipping will appear at the end of the order.  If selected, a shipping label from you to us will be created with your Order Number on it.  Attach the shipping label to your package and drop it off at your nearest UPS drop off point.

The shipping cost will be added to your invoice along with the testing costs.

We also accept deliveries from the US Postal Service and FedEx.

If we receive your sample(s) after the set up day, we will refrigerate your sample and run it on the next testing date. 

What forms do I fill out?

We are switching from paper accession forms to an online ordering system which will expedite the sample testing process.

If you don't have an online account, go to https://w3.vetmed.wsu.edu/newaccount.php to enroll (it takes 1-2 minutes).  One your account is set up, you'll receive an email with a link to submit your order or you can go directly to https://apps.vetmed.wsu.edu/WADDLPortal. 

The actual submission process is 6 steps: 

• Start - contains information on how to use the system and any new updates.
• Account - displays your account information.  If incorrect, please email or call us.
• Case Information - input information about this specific case, i.e. Herd Health, Diagnostics, herd size, etc.
•  Specimen ID - what kind of sample is being sent and which animal it belongs to.
• Select Tests - Select the tests you'd like us to perform.
• Apply Tests - Link the animals you listed in the Specimen ID to the tests you selected.
• Review Order - Displays the order for your review, with the option to make changes.  It also, displays estimated cost, your Order Number, and asks how it will be coming to WADDL.  This is also where you would choose the UPS Discounted Shipping and create a shipping label.

Place the Order Number or the Order Packing Slip and your payment in a separate ziplock bag, to ensure it doesn't get wet.

How much does it cost?

WADDL's Serology section runs over 80 available tests.  If submitting online, you will get an estimated cost for the case.  Or you can go to our Search Tests webpage that has multiple ways to find a test and all the details associated with that particular test, including price.  From our main page click on the "Tests & Fees" button.

How do I get my results?

The fastest method to receive results is to sign up for online access. Once all the results are verified by our Microbiologist, you will receive an email with a link to view and print your results. 

Otherwise, the default is to mail results to the address listed on the General Accession Form. If a veterinarian is listed on the accession form, the results are sent to the veterinarian.  If no veterinarian is listed, the results are mailed to the owner.

Please note that submissions from multiple owners require a separate accession form for each owner.  It is okay to send in the same box (saving on shipping) provided we receive an accession form from each owner. To ensure confidentiality, we will separate the submissions, so that each owner receives a report with their animals. 
We are not allowed to revise reports once the report is finalized since the report constitutes a legal document.