![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/animalconnection\/files\/2019\/05\/rabiestest.jpg\")
A small lab at OSU is a critical component of the state\u2019s complex system that protects the public from rabies.<\/h3>\nA small lab at OSU is a critical component of the state\u2019s complex system that protects the public from rabies.<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
Wendy Black has been testing brain tissue, looking for rabies infection, for twenty-six years. She and fellow technicians process about 80 samples every week. They work for the Oregon Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (OVDL<\/a>), the only lab in the state that does rabies testing.<\/p>\n The laboratory space for rabies testing resides in a seventy-year-old building on the western edge of the OSU campus. The faded, old linoleum on the floors is in stark contrast to state-of-the-art equipment set up throughout the building. Most of the rooms contain automated processers conducting sophisticated diagnostic testing, but the rabies lab follows a Center for Disease Control (CDC) protocol that has been the standard for decades, and it\u2019s all done by hand.<\/p>\n When a dead bat comes into the OVDL, the first thing Wendy does is remove its brain. \u201cWe separate the cerebellum and brain stem; that\u2019s where the concentration of rabies will be found.\u201d<\/p>\n Wendy prepares a slice of brain tissue by fixing it to a slide then treating it with two different kinds of rabies antibodies. \u201cEssentially, we have two different agents looking for the same thing,\u201d she says. This is one of many steps they take to ensure accurate diagnosis.<\/p>\n The slide sits for thirty minutes, letting the animal tissue and antibodies incubate together, then Wendy uses a microscope to view the result. She looks at forty different tiny sections, searching for a grouping of bright green spots called \u2018green apple granules\u2019, the evidence of rabies. Her colleague duplicates the process with the same brain tissue to make sure they are not missing a low-level infection. There is absolutely no automation involved; it\u2019s just people working efficiently, and time is a factor. \u201cFrom the time of receipt to the time of reporting, we can usually get it done in 2-3 hours,\u201d says Wendy. \u201cWe want no more than a 24-hour turn around, for peace of mind of the clients.\u201d<\/p>\n Most rabies testing at the OVDL is done on dead bats (only about 30% is done on larger animals) and most of those bats come from the general public.\u00a0 When a slide tests positive for rabies, the OVDL contacts the state veterinarian at the Oregon Health Authority, who notifies the county where the animal resided. He may also question the person who found the animal to determine if anyone was exposed and needs treatment, a process that involves many weeks of shots.<\/p>\n When a slide tests negative for rabies, Wendy quickly contacts the person who submitted the bat. \u201cI like to call them personally with the negative result,\u201d she says. \u201cThey might be worried about exposure to their pets and family, and it is nice to hear the sigh of relief in their voice.\u201d<\/p>\n In cases where a dog or cat brings home a dead bat, or when a veterinarian suspects a pet\u2019s neurological symptoms may be due to rabies, there is only one sad, stressful way to diagnose the disease: euthanize the animal and remove its brain. However, the CDC has recently developed a promising, new rabies test that uses tiny DNA samples instead of brain tissue. \u201cIt will be very sensitive,\u201d says Wendy, \u201cAnd the neat thing is they can use it on different kinds of samples, like saliva, so the animal would not have to be euthanized.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A small lab at OSU is a critical component of the state\u2019s complex system that protects the public from rabies. Wendy Black has been testing brain tissue, looking for rabies infection, for twenty-six years. She and fellow technicians process about 80 samples every week. They work for the Oregon Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (OVDL), the… Continue reading