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The Hawaii State Veterinary Laboratory is a multi-disciplinary diagnostic laboratory within the Division of Animal Industry, Department of Agriculture, to support the Division and Department's mission by: a) providing infectious disease expertise and diagnostic support; b) assessing the risk posed by pathogenic pests and microorganisms as related to introduction into Hawaii; c) performing diagnostic test procedures required as integral component of the State-Federal Cooperative animal health programs and; d) providing accurate and timely identification of animal diseases of economic and public health/food safety importance.

In order to carry out its objectives, the Veterinary Laboratory is composed of highly qualified professional staff, including a veterinary pathologist, epidemiologist, chemist, microbiologists and a laboratory aide. The laboratory activities encompass such functional areas as bacteriology-mycology, anatomical-clinical pathology, histochemistry, immunoserology, and parasitology. It occupies a modern facility in Halawa valley of Aiea, Oahu.

The pathology functions as a primary diagnostic section responsible for detecting and diagnosing diseases of animal and public health concern in Hawaii. Evaluation of such diseases by medico-pathological assessment techniques supports the Division mission of identifying, preventing or managing endemic, emerging or re-emerging pathogenic diseases of economic, zoonotic and food safety importance, as related to agricultural settings.

One of the goals of the Veterinary Laboratory, then, is to test all animals under the jurisdiction of the Division of Animal Industry to meet all import requirements before being allowed entry into the State.

In order to import domestic animals, including cattle, horses, goats, swine, and poultry, they must be tested for certain diseases. Blood samples are collected from these animals and tested for presence of antibodies against a specific disease agent. Horses are required to be free from Equine Infectious Anemia (EIA); cattle must be free of Anaplasmosis, Brucellosis, Bluetongue and other reportable diseases; swine are routinely tested for Brucellosis and Pseudorabies.  Fecal samples of dogs and cats are routinely examined for parasites, such as hookworms, roundworms, tapeworms and giardia.

Links to websites containing information on Livestock and Avian Diseases:

West Nile Virus info:           http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/index.htm
Equine West Nile virus:      http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/nahps/equine/wnv/
BSE website:                        http://cofcs66.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/issues/bse/bse.html
Scrapie info:                         http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/nahps/scrapie/
Avian Influenza:                    http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/birdbiosecurity/hpai.html
Newcastle disease:            http://www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/issues/enc/exoticnc.html
Brucellosis info:                   http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/nahps/brucellosis/
Pseudorabies info:             http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/nahps/pseudorabies/
Johne's disease info:         http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/nahps/johnes/