Research on animals and plants and health monitoring

Research on Animals and Plants and Health Monitoring – Accredited Testing Services for Global Markets

Our internationally accredited laboratory delivers a comprehensive suite of research on animals and plants and health monitoring services that provides veterinary pharmaceutical companies, agricultural biotechnology firms, zoological and botanical research institutes, aquaculture producers, food‑safety authorities and environmental consultancies worldwide with the independent, traceable data they need to assess the health status, disease burden, nutritional adequacy and environmental impact of terrestrial and aquatic organisms. Every investigation is conducted within the rigorous framework of ISO/IEC 17025, and each report bearing the ILAC mark is unconditionally accepted by regulatory authorities, notified bodies and supply‑chain partners in all major economies. By integrating clinical pathology, molecular diagnostics, toxicology, histopathology and environmental chemistry into a single, harmonised research on animals and plants and health monitoring platform, we help our clients to detect emerging pathogens, to validate the safety of novel feed additives, to certify the disease‑free status of breeding colonies and to demonstrate compliance with the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) standards, the International Plant Protection Convention and the relevant Codex Alimentarius guidelines.

Product Samples We Regularly Subject to Research on Animals and Plants and Health Monitoring

Our necropsy suites, biosafety‑level‑2 and ‑3 laboratories, real‑time PCR and sequencing platforms, high‑resolution mass spectrometers and histological processing centres accommodate an extraordinarily diverse array of biological and environmental matrices. The following categories represent the most frequently tested items:

Animal clinical specimens – whole blood, serum, plasma, faeces, urine, nasal and cloacal swabs, milk, semen, fin clips, gill biopsies and cerebrospinal fluid from livestock, poultry, companion animals, laboratory rodents, fish and wildlife
Animal tissues and post‑mortem samples – liver, kidney, spleen, lung, brain, lymph node, intestine, skeletal muscle and bone marrow collected during necropsy for histopathological and microbiological examination
Feed, forage and drinking water – compound feed, silage, hay, pasture grass, grains, protein supplements, mineral premixes and the water supplied to the animal‑housing facilities, tested for nutritional composition, mycotoxins, heavy metals and microbial contamination
Plant tissues and propagation material – leaves, stems, roots, seeds, pollen, tubers, bulbs, cuttings and tissue‑culture plantlets submitted for the diagnosis of viral, bacterial, fungal and phytoplasma diseases
Soil, growing media and irrigation water – the rhizosphere soil, the compost, the hydroponic nutrient solutions and the greenhouse irrigation water analysed for the presence of plant‑pathogenic nematodes, oomycetes and the abiotic stress factors
Environmental swabs and the air‑settling plates from the animal and the plant‑housing facilities – the surface‑wipe samples, the dust and the bioaerosol collections that are used to monitor the hygiene and the biosecurity of the livestock barns, the poultry houses, the aquaculture recirculating systems and the plant‑growth chambers

Animal Health Monitoring – Infectious Disease, Serology and Nutritional Surveillance

Detection and the molecular characterisation of the viral, bacterial and parasitic pathogens by the real‑time PCR and the next‑generation sequencing according to the OIE Manual of Diagnostic Tests and Vaccines for Terrestrial Animals and the relevant ISO 22174 and ISO 15216 methods: the nucleic acid is extracted from the clinical specimen, and the pathogen‑specific or the broad‑range primers are used to amplify and to sequence the target genes. The presence or the absence of the notifiable agents – such as the foot‑and‑mouth disease virus, the African swine fever virus, the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus and the Mycobacterium bovis – is reported, and the phylogenetic analysis of the outbreak strains is performed, providing the molecular epidemiology data that are essential for the trade certification and the disease‑control programme.
Serological surveillance and the antibody‑profiling by the enzyme‑linked immunosorbent assay and the virus‑neutralisation test according to the OIE Terrestrial Manual and the ISO 17043 proficiency‑testing requirements: the serum or the plasma is screened for the antibodies against the major enzootic and the trade‑relevant pathogens – the bovine viral diarrhoea virus, the infectious bovine rhinotracheitis virus, the porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus, the Newcastle disease virus and the Brucella species – and the antibody titre is compared with the protective threshold, supporting the vaccination‑programme evaluation and the establishment of the disease‑free compartments.
Complete blood count, the clinical chemistry and the acute‑phase‑protein profiling for the assessment of the systemic health and the inflammatory status: the haematology analyser and the automated clinical‑chemistry platform provide the erythrocyte, the leukocyte and the platelet parameters, the liver and the kidney function markers, the electrolyte balance and the concentrations of the haptoglobin, the serum amyloid A and the fibrinogen, which are the sensitive, early indicators of the subclinical infection and the metabolic stress in the herd and the flock.
Toxicological and the residue‑monitoring programme for the feed and the animal tissues according to the Codex Alimentarius guidelines and the European Union Directive 2002/32/EC: the feed and the edible tissues are analysed by the liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry and the inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry for the mycotoxins (the aflatoxins, the ochratoxin A, the deoxynivalenol, the zearalenone), the heavy metals (the lead, the cadmium, the mercury, the arsenic), the pesticide residues and the veterinary‑drug residues, ensuring that the products meet the maximum residue limits and are safe for the human consumption.
Parasitological examination and the faecal egg‑count reduction test for the anthelmintic‑resistance surveillance: the faecal samples are processed by the flotation, the sedimentation and the McMaster counting methods, and the eggs, the oocysts and the larvae of the gastrointestinal nematodes, the coccidia and the liver flukes are identified and quantified. The faecal egg‑count reduction test is performed to detect the emerging resistance to the benzimidazoles, the macrocyclic lactones and the other anthelmintic classes, guiding the sustainable parasite‑control strategy.
Aquatic‑animal health inspection and the water‑quality monitoring according to the OIE Aquatic Manual and the ISO 5667 series for the water sampling: the fish, the shrimp and the molluscs are examined for the gross pathology and the histopathological lesions, and the water samples are tested for the dissolved oxygen, the ammonia, the nitrite, the pH and the alkalinity, as well as for the specific pathogens such as the Vibrio parahaemolyticus strains that cause the acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease and the white‑spot syndrome virus.

Plant Health Monitoring – Disease Diagnosis, Pest Identification and Biosecurity Screening

Identification of the plant‑pathogenic fungi, bacteria, viruses and phytoplasmas by the morphological, the serological and the molecular methods according to the EPPO Diagnostic Protocols and the ISPM No. 27: the symptomatic plant tissue is examined under the stereomicroscope for the fungal fruiting bodies and the bacterial ooze, and the pathogen is isolated on the selective media or detected by the double‑antibody‑sandwich ELISA. The real‑time PCR and the DNA barcoding of the internal‑transcribed‑spacer region or the 16S‑rRNA gene provide the species‑level identification of the quarantine pests – such as the Xylella fastidiosa, the citrus greening bacterium and the Phytophthora ramorum – that are regulated by the national plant‑protection organisations.
Detection and the enumeration of the plant‑parasitic nematodes in the soil and the root samples according to the ISO 23611‑4 and the Cobb’s sieving‑and‑centrifugation method: the nematodes are extracted from the soil or the root tissue, and the population density of the cyst, the root‑knot, the lesion and the dagger nematodes is determined per 100 grams or per gram of the root, providing the risk‑assessment data that the grower uses to select the appropriate resistant cultivar and the nematicide treatment.
Screening for the genetically modified organisms in the seeds, the grains and the food products according to the ISO 21569, the ISO 21570 and the ISO 21571 series of the real‑time PCR methods: the sample is ground, and the DNA is extracted and amplified with the event‑specific and the screening primers that target the CaMV 35S promoter, the NOS terminator and the specific transgenic events. The presence and the quantification of the authorised and the unauthorised GMO events are reported in the percentage of the total DNA, supporting the compliance with the EU labelling regulation and the import‑country requirements.
Pesticide‑residue analysis and the multi‑mycotoxin screening in the fresh produce, the dried herbs and the plant‑based food products by the QuEChERS extraction and the liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry according to the EN 15662 and the SANTE/11312/2021 guidance: up to 500 pesticide active substances and 12 major mycotoxins are simultaneously quantified with a reporting limit at or below the maximum residue limit of the destination market, providing the comprehensive chemical‑safety data that the exporter uses to demonstrate the compliance with the European, the North American and the Japanese food‑safety standards.
Nutrient‑deficiency diagnosis and the leaf‑tissue analysis for the optimisation of the fertilisation programme: the dried and the ground leaf tissue is digested, and the concentrations of the nitrogen, the phosphorus, the potassium, the calcium, the magnesium, the sulfur, the iron, the manganese, the zinc, the copper and the boron are measured by the inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry, and the results are compared with the established sufficiency ranges for the crop species and the phenological stage.
Viability and the germination testing of the seeds and the propagation material according to the International Seed Testing Association rules: the seed lot is tested for the germination percentage, the vigour, the moisture content and the presence of the seed‑borne pathogens, and the results are reported on the ISTA Orange or Blue International Certificate, which is the mandatory document for the international seed trade.

Environmental and Biosecurity Monitoring in Animal and Plant Facilities – Integrated Research on Animals and Plants and Health Monitoring

Air‑quality and the bioaerosol monitoring in the animal‑housing and the greenhouse environments according to the ISO 14698‑1 and the ISO 16000‑16: the active‑air samplers and the settle‑plates are used to quantify the total bacterial and the fungal counts, and the endotoxin and the beta‑glucan concentrations in the air are measured, providing the data that the facility‑manager uses to design the ventilation and the filtration system that minimises the respiratory‑disease challenge in the confined animals and the fungal‑spore load on the plants.
Surface‑hygiene monitoring by the adenosine‑triphosphate bioluminescence and the contact‑plate sampling: the critical control points – the feeding troughs, the milking‑parlour surfaces, the egg‑collection belts, the seed‑sorting tables and the transplanting benches – are swabbed, and the relative‑light‑units or the colony‑forming units per square centimetre are reported, verifying the effectiveness of the cleaning and the disinfection protocols.
Water‑system testing for the microbial and the chemical contaminants according to the ISO 6222, the ISO 9308‑1 and the EPA Method 200.8: the drinking water for the livestock and the irrigation water for the hydroponic systems are tested for the coliforms, the Escherichia coli, the Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the iron, the manganese and the nitrate, ensuring the water quality that supports the optimal animal growth and the plant yield.
Monitoring of the antibiotic‑resistance genes and the resistant bacteria in the animal manure, the wastewater and the soil according to the EU Commission Implementing Decision 2020/1729 and the qPCR‑based methods: the samples are screened for the extended‑spectrum‑beta‑lactamase‑producing Enterobacteriaceae, the methicillin‑resistant Staphylococcus aureus and the mobile colistin‑resistance genes, and the data are used to evaluate the impact of the antimicrobial use in the livestock on the environmental resistome and to inform the national action plan on the antimicrobial resistance.

Report Acceptance and Regulatory Compliance for Global Markets

All research on animals and plants and health monitoring described above is executed under the fully accredited scope of our ISO/IEC 17025 quality management system. Each test report that carries the ILAC mark is therefore automatically recognised by regulatory authorities, notified bodies, customs offices and supply‑chain partners in all major economies. For veterinary pharmaceutical companies, agricultural biotechnology firms, livestock and aquaculture producers, plant‑breeding stations and food‑safety authorities anywhere in the world, the report constitutes legally robust, internationally accepted evidence that the disease‑screening, the serological monitoring, the toxicological and the residue analysis, the GMO detection and the environmental biosecurity assessment have been performed in accordance with the applicable OIE, EPPO, ISTA, Codex, ISO and customer‑specified methods. The documentation can be directly used to support the international veterinary certificate, the phytosanitary certificate, the export‑clearance, the product registration, the issue of inspection certificates according to EN 10204 or equivalent national standards, and the resolution of commercial and technical disputes concerning the health status, the nutritional adequacy and the environmental sustainability of any animal or plant production system.