- Blood
- Minimum volume is 0.5 ml; prefer at least 1.0 ml.
- Collect in lavender top tubes (EDTA), not green top (heparin).
- Refrigerate after collection, ship with cold packs.
- Serum
- Collect blood in a sterile red top or serum separator tube (SST).
- Do not force the blood into the tube as this will cause hemolysis.
- Invert the tube 5 times to mix clot activator with blood.
- Allow the blood to sit for sufficient time to clot.
- Centrifuge.
- Remove the serum aseptically from red top tube and transfer to a new red top tube or other sterile tube without additive.
- Serum does not need to be transferred from an SST tube after the tube has been centrifuged.
- Make sure that all tubes are legibly labeled, using a permanent marker/pen.
- Refrigerate serum until shipped. Do NOT freeze.
- Ship serum with cold packs.
- Feces
- Sample size 10-30 grams (1 ounce)
- Submit sample in sealed container such as a Ziploc or whirl-pak bag. Exam gloves and palpation sleeves are not acceptable containers.
- Refrigerate after collecting; ship with cold pack.
- Fresh tissue
- Do NOT put in formalin.
- Include area with visible lesion if present.
- Refrigerate. Alternatively, can be frozen.
- Ship with cold pack for next day delivery.
- Fluids/Secretions/Swabs
- After collection, put bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, tracheal wash fluids, CSF, and ascites fluids into a sterile tube without additive such as a red top blood tube.
- If samples are collected on a swab, the swab should be placed in viral transport media or in a red top tube with 1-2 ml sterile saline. Appropriate swabs and viral transport collection kits (which include swabs and transport media) can be ordered from the VMDL (Client Supplies Order Form). Calcium alginate swabs inactivate some viruses so should not be used. Do NOT use swabs with Amies transport media such as the BBL CultureSwab Plus.
- Please call the lab 1-800-862-8635 if you have questions.
- Tritrichomonas foetus
- InPouch® test kits can be purchased from the VMDL.
- Follow the instructions in the test kit.
- If samples can be shipped to arrive within 48 hr. after collection:
- Do not refrigerate after collection, do not ship with cold packs.
- Samples should be packaged so that they are maintained at 15-37°C (59-98.6°F) from time of collection to arrival at VMDL.
- If sample cannot be sent immediately:
- Incubate overnight at 37°C, freeze, and ship with cold packs.
- If there is no incubator, leave at room temperature for 2 days, then freeze sample, and ship with cold packs.
Message from the Director
The University of Missouri Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (VMDL) is a full-service veterinary diagnostic laboratory and Missouri’s only laboratory accredited by the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians. The VMDL is a Level I Lab of the National Animal Health Laboratory Network, Tier I Lab of the FDA Veterinary Laboratory Response Network, and a National Poultry Improvement Plan authorized lab. The VMDL maintains an effective quality assurance and quality control program.
The VMDL has formal anatomical pathology, clinical pathology, and clinical microbiology training programs. The VMDL faculty hold academic appointments in the Departments of Veterinary Pathobiology and Veterinary Biomedical Sciences. The director is administratively responsible to the dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine for the overall operation of the laboratory and its multiple missions of public service, teaching, research and continuing education/extension.
The VMDL faculty and staff work diligently to provide relevant, timely and cost-effective diagnostic services to our clients and to create a positive learning environment for our students and residents. In 2024, veterinarians, animal owners and researchers from 103 Missouri counties and cities, as well as from 51 states and provinces outside Missouri, continued to rely on the Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory’s (VMDL) diagnostic services. The lab performed approximately 63,500 total cases and conducted nearly 204,500 tests.
About the MU VMDL
The VMDL is a full-service laboratory accredited by the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians (AAVLD). The VMDL provides in-depth laboratory diagnostic support to veterinary practitioners, livestock and poultry industry interests, companion animal interests, wildlife conservationists, scientists utilizing animals in their research throughout the university, state and regulatory officials, and clinicians of the MU Veterinary Health Center.
Our Location
901 E. Campus Loop
Columbia, MO 65211