[{"_1":2,"_111":-5,"_112":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,87,99],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":72,"_74":72},"mediaId",6171995,"mediaKeyId","5393206-9e09a333c4fc6afc2d38de05eb3f959e","parentId",5393206,"title","Lab directors press Congress to sustain workforce pipeline, training and university partnerships","audioSeconds",3737,"startMs",2369000,"endMs",6106000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=5393206-9e09a333c4fc6afc2d38de05eb3f959e&start=2369&end=6106","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5393206-9e09a333c4fc6afc2d38de05eb3f959e/thumbnail_2369000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6171995/Lab-directors-press-Congress-to-sustain-workforce-pipeline-training-and-university-partnerships","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6171995-8176a825db1f858857bb3cdf9e1dd3cd/orig.mp4?Expires=1775594040&Signature=DEVxkqV9zw5sHXjL9f-sHkLJGyYjJYk5oFMJ9eUlWsVPpI5yNdv3Ev~61SAOUISgUzfbjdif3xfyuBewJnWyJe2S8fI20ykHHfsxXK0by9uP4rNgTXwEOnFde3iBnKafxVCXyUDKQsRlHSzOp9QG~AHG4zoe9td9pU2l3bldy-bGbM~keI-YD7kZlc3ATFDUmizoKumR3djgcKzwC6tIljsrp~-Q8TVd6LaRBwG8F1JjjppmfbIoEPQkiLpwx1DI0lU~DNXu1-nGHYyLnrpzUILtuvsfA5JzyHov1T9diKH~VImMIn1ilPOTxHs~f0gGzRBxlo94byEeVDLAuG8l7w__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","U.S. House Committee on Agriculture","date","2025-07-15T13:07:39Z","article","State and university laboratory directors told the House Agriculture Subcommittee that staffing and training are central to maintaining diagnostic capacity and that federal support helps sustain internships, residencies and teaching programs that feed the veterinary diagnostics pipeline.
Dr. Jamie Riedelik said Kansas State’s diagnostic lab employs about 120 people, including roughly 25 faculty, and that the lab developed a technician internship pipeline and increased pathology residents after a 2022 period of high turnover. She said federal NAHLN funding helps support salaries and training that make those programs viable.
Dr. Roger Maine said Iowa State’s lab leverages its university role to train students and practitioners; he noted the lab’s heavy case load gives students hands‑on experience and that many veterinary graduates enter food‑animal practice because of those training opportunities.
Members highlighted regional examples: the Connecticut Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory at UConn trains about 40 graduate and undergraduate students annually, and witnesses described outreach including summer hires, tours, continuing education for veterinarians, webinars and collaborations with extension services.
Witnesses told the committee that university‑based labs are natural training centers, because they combine academic faculty, diagnostic caseloads and extension/outreach. They asked Congress to sustain predictable funding streams that support technician pay, residency slots and outreach programs, and they described NBAF and university partnerships as potential sources of trainees and technicians.
No formal policy changes were decided at the hearing, but panelists asked for continued committee engagement and funding oversight to ensure NAHLN member labs can recruit and retain the technical workforce needed for outbreak surge capacity.
","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Safeguarding U.S. Agriculture: The Role of the National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN)","oneSentenceSummary","Directors of state and university veterinary diagnostic laboratories told a House subcommittee that lab readiness depends on recruiting and retaining technicians, residents and faculty; they described internships, residency programs and university partnerships as key and asked for continued federal support to fund salaries and training.","taxTitle","Agriculture: House Committee, Standing Committees - House & Senate, Congressional Hearings Compilation, Legislative, Federal","taxId",1977,"location","","headline","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":72,"_74":72},6172000,"Officials warn of New World screwworm threat; call for surveillance and international coordination",157,3679000,3836000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5393206-9e09a333c4fc6afc2d38de05eb3f959e&start=3679&end=3836","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5393206-9e09a333c4fc6afc2d38de05eb3f959e/thumbnail_3679000.jpg","/articles/6172000/Officials-warn-of-New-World-screwworm-threat-call-for-surveillance-and-international-coordination","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6172000-108659804de76c6ecdb40cb453a6f3b1/orig.mp4?Expires=1775594040&Signature=lMJFOz9isXE4k9~GO6OdTsh-FWaF2Dw-qN6w91lkThgtFOtlvgGwsWqP2r1dJ7eoyvN6Z9dDiKQcUyyQGC42itrdrNUmKlD92NmHG32o1a08YDgWLkVxvHg8960rxND8gxrqTyNke5VCPwsig17-agWQaD3RFDZ6HeGcQXlqmXHsgvcDELCzkwoj0O-ZxBNaPAzOMVBzQQNNAqAvgCbhXO06GENCPWepBsJu97yxlPt6AQNcT6q8tN2Fgv7I2XLWY4pV2VYu5pxYJzGk~gqs2R4pGP4CJABliHY5WILDiaKlAT8F4WCVMBG3RhUvvpHEHjAuEibmT-ULhX~Co5nORw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The House Agriculture Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry heard testimony that the reappearance and spread of the New World screwworm in Mexico presents a major economic threat to U.S. cattle and dairy producers and requires coordinated surveillance and international cooperation.
Chairman Mann cited USDA cost estimates discussed at the hearing, saying a contemporary outbreak in Texas alone could cost producers $732 million per year and that historic estimates put annual producer costs as high as $4.3 billion with total economic losses exceeding $10 billion. He asked lab directors how NAHLN laboratories would be involved in detection and response.
Dr. Jamie Riedelik said many NAHLN labs, being university and state departmental labs, have parasitologists and pathologists trained to recognize screwworm and that the network discusses the pest on weekly calls and provides training. She said routine caseloads in diagnostic labs provide passive surveillance because samples and carcasses submitted for other reasons can reveal new threats.
Members and witnesses identified USDA and state animal health agencies (for example, the Texas Animal Health Commission) as the focal points for coordination and response. Dr. Hensley and other witnesses described ongoing weekly calls that include state agencies, veterinary services staff and extension services to track the pest’s movement and coordinate surveillance priorities.
Panelists discussed international efforts cited in testimony: funding and projects in Mexico to retrofit rearing facilities and produce sterile flies, and plans to establish rearing capacity in Mission (Texas) and Panama; witnesses said such efforts take time and that surveillance at the border and within high‑risk states must be sustained.
Representative Van Orden asked who is leading the tracking effort; witnesses and members repeatedly pointed to USDA and the respective state animal health agencies as the lead coordinators, with NAHLN providing diagnostic recognition and testing support. Witnesses encouraged continued federal support for surveillance, lab capacity and cross‑border coordination to reduce the likelihood of a damaging outbreak.
","Members of the subcommittee and laboratory directors described New World screwworm as a major economic threat to cattle and dairy producers if it spreads north from Mexico, and they urged enhanced surveillance, rapid diagnostic recognition by NAHLN labs, and coordination with USDA and state animal health agencies.",{"_33":88,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":89,"_41":90,"_43":91,"_45":92,"_47":93,"_49":94,"_51":95,"_53":96,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":97,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":98,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":72,"_74":72},6172005,"Scientists urge testing, biosecurity and vaccination debate after H5N1 detections in dairy and poultry",757,2813000,3570000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5393206-9e09a333c4fc6afc2d38de05eb3f959e&start=2813&end=3570","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5393206-9e09a333c4fc6afc2d38de05eb3f959e/thumbnail_2813000.jpg","/articles/6172005/Scientists-urge-testing-biosecurity-and-vaccination-debate-after-H5N1-detections-in-dairy-and-poultry","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6172005-bfe967e3bb5fd80cc8e0eac2db9a162a/orig.mp4?Expires=1775594040&Signature=RC93VOPtBWJSdeJh0YKVAP8vRKY-C9eoG6PY2U3uRg762lFFRrI0nAwrqA1i2Xw5ybyLK42P0xdJTgCkgT4FFhY~m73hdbX3-35wMW-FYFmtO7bIDwZDaOEEsgPuTfZe6ab4trgrwzqdp8f4n~B1SnO4oMLlBfuksfvPYhc3Bor8FzKiYrLUpABN5oAdcDxzYG8ci6ajpph8surTE43Sf6nTJLhhkwaGJ0SMtok2lwq--AQRIQsusTb~wHNegf1MEO~L6FZHr-aSWxI2caW6TCN484iWcqTJ04GK1vNXlIm6sFWqGUyxatETIYdD~~6ovUieGM3H8VYzG9qTI48uBw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Witnesses told the House Agriculture Subcommittee that highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) has shifted the response calculus for poultry and dairy producers and that testing, biosecurity and possible vaccination strategies must be part of the national response.
Dr. Terry Hensley of Texas A&M said Texas A&M, Cornell and Iowa State collaborated using shared samples to demonstrate H5N1 virus in mammary tissue and milk from sick dairy cows; the results were reported to NAHLN and confirmed by the National Veterinary Services Laboratories, and USDA announced the dairy confirmation on March 25, 2024. Hensley said the dairy cases showed a rapid drop in milk production and that the network’s coordinated testing was essential to identify the cause.
\"For several weeks, our laboratories ran every test that might provide an explanation, but there were no definitive answers,\" Hensley said. \"When dairies reported large numbers of dead birds and cats, the possibility of a connection between highly pathogenic avian influenza and sick cattle was suggested.\" He described how shared testing led to the detection in mammary tissue and milk.
Dr. Annette Jones, California state veterinarian, described how the workload in California surged from about 450 influenza samples per month to about 12,000 samples per month at the peak — more than 25 times normal — and credited NAHLN surge capacity for sending technicians to assist testing.
\"These technicians performed the same test on the same equipment using the same standard operating procedures at their home lab, they were able to immediately expand our lab capacity,\" Jones said, noting that network standardization allowed accurate, nearly real‑time reporting from labs in seven other states during the outbreak’s peak.
Witnesses told members that NAHLN labs have provided more than a million test results nationwide during the current outbreak. Jones framed the outbreak response as three necessary, concurrent efforts: ongoing testing to track prevalence and mutations; biosecurity to limit spread (movement control, PPE, sanitation and decontamination); and reducing environmental virus load — currently done mainly by euthanasia of infected flocks and allowing herds to develop natural immunity.
\"Testing alone will not make the virus disappear,\" Jones said. \"Biosecurity is needed, but even the best farm biosecurity will be overwhelmed if there is too much virus being produced by surrounding poultry, wild birds, and dairy cows.\" She urged that dairy vaccination be explored as an additional tool and said, \"If I were a poultry producer, a beef producer, a swine producer, or a dairy producer, I would be banging my fist on the table to vaccinate dairy cattle way ahead of poultry.\"
Panelists and members acknowledged trade sensitivities surrounding vaccination; Maine and other witnesses said vaccine discussions must weigh international trade implications against the urgency of reducing environmental viral load.
The session included detailed examples of how testing and lab coordination enabled rapid identification of novel transmission pathways, and witnesses urged sustained funding, workforce support and research to advance diagnostics, surveillance and vaccination options.
","State and university diagnostic lab directors told the House Agriculture Subcommittee that NAHLN labs confirmed H5N1 in mammary tissue and milk, described dramatic testing surges in California, and urged a broader discussion of vaccines, biosecurity and surveillance to reduce environmental viral load.",{"_33":100,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":101,"_41":102,"_43":103,"_45":104,"_47":105,"_49":106,"_51":107,"_53":108,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":109,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":110,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":72,"_74":72},6172010,"Congressional panel spotlights National Animal Health Laboratory Network as funding increases",2402,1437000,3839000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5393206-9e09a333c4fc6afc2d38de05eb3f959e&start=1437&end=3839","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5393206-9e09a333c4fc6afc2d38de05eb3f959e/thumbnail_1437000.jpg","/articles/6172010/Congressional-panel-spotlights-National-Animal-Health-Laboratory-Network-as-funding-increases","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6172010-85285f21523c73d14c7893e4d3ae11b8/orig.mp4?Expires=1775594040&Signature=O-7nAj4mPtJbavbRjqQgQoF1udLfrlHbXBoQPvdLpsn6DE5Gp5ZulGC69Td0udQqHzD96~B6deju1xMw4lxtZcSOumoTTKrFWKqPMfVzAhdZt5JpD1Z~HjoqlDoP1AQSY~CI2gVmefV87qRJFMD21pjyHnueVj3LFXwGXtx--kSNsIIqk2zgayhv~paQX8tatD9lCp~XZkesd4ob2Kq1C0vzRGTkjxfykl41m3-y58EY4HLLBYsQ4rwOapH2mCQvjYyEwCE5GvKhLpim~PZKuk8LkmKRvazeELP8AYtZ8P7KWcQ6-Fhjy4R4n95gAYO0Ftpbm59Gm9A8AiDetrMixA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The House Agriculture Committee Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry heard Tuesday that the National Animal Health Laboratory Network, or NAHLN, is a cornerstone of U.S. animal disease preparedness and that newly approved federal funds will strengthen the network.
Chairman Mann opened the hearing by describing NAHLN as “the first line of our defense” and noting that the network has grown from 12 to 64 state and university laboratories since 2002. He said the recent reconciliation package included new investments for animal health programs, and that those resources come at a critical moment for the laboratories.
The panel’s witnesses — Dr. Jamie Riedelik, director of the Kansas Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory at Kansas State University; Dr. Terry Hensley, assistant agency director at the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (TVMDL); Dr. Roger Maine, director of the Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory; and Dr. Annette Jones, California state veterinarian and director of animal health and food safety services — described how NAHLN coordinates standardized methods, proficiency testing and weekly communications that let member labs surge testing and share results across state lines.
\"Standardized protocols and proficiency testing provide consistent, trustworthy, and high-capacity testing among all 64 NAHLN laboratories in critical disease events,\" Riedelik said, describing how her lab used network protocols and proficiency panels distributed by federal laboratories.
Witnesses said NAHLN funding is used at member labs for equipment purchases, software and IT upgrades, service contracts, travel for training and exercises, and salary support for technicians and diagnosticians. Riedelik said the Kansas Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory employs about 120 staff, including about 25 faculty, and performs roughly 600,000 tests annually; Maine said the Iowa State lab handles more than 125,000 case submissions and 1,700,000 assays annually; Hensley said TVMDL runs almost a million tests annually.
Panel members and witnesses discussed the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) in Manhattan, Kansas, and its relationship to NAHLN. Riedelik said NBAF will serve research and service missions and that state diagnostic labs will interact with NBAF as they do now with federal confirmatory laboratories, including training and confirmatory testing.
Committee members asked how recent federal funding will be applied. Maine said new recurring funds “will be of tremendous help” primarily by supporting the people who run the laboratories and by improving sustained preparedness. Hensley and Riedelik echoed that view, adding that base funding helps retain staff and maintain surge readiness.
The hearing featured repeated calls for continued investment in lab personnel and infrastructure. Panelists emphasized that adequate staffing, consistent methods, and shared information across the NAHLN are the practical measures that permit rapid detection and coordinated responses to high‑consequence animal diseases.
Less-critical details: witnesses noted travel disruptions for panelists and described routine outreach and training responsibilities for their university‑based labs.
","Witnesses told the House Agriculture Subcommittee that the National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN) provides critical, standardized testing and surge capacity for outbreaks and that recent federal funding increases will help shore up personnel, equipment and IT at member labs.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Lab directors press Congress to sustain workforce pipeline, training and university partnerships

Officials warn of New World screwworm threat; call for surveillance and international coordination

Scientists urge testing, biosecurity and vaccination debate after H5N1 detections in dairy and poultry

Congressional panel spotlights National Animal Health Laboratory Network as funding increases