What is the Bronson Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (BADDL), and what can BADDL do for cattle producers?
For years, cattle producers have acted as unofficial researchers and detectives. As caregivers to domesticated animals, cattle producers and veterinarians sometimes find themselves outwitted by nature and need more pieces to solve a puzzle. That is where the Bronson Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, or BADDL, can help. The BADDL exists to help with more difficult diagnoses.
The BADDL, centrally located in Kissimmee, Florida, is operated as a bureau within the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Division of Animal Industry. The purpose of the BADDL is to provide complete scientific expertise in the detection and investigation of animal diseases that affect livestock. The BADDL is a state-of-the-art facility that completed a multi-million-dollar renovation in November of 2019. This renovation has allowed the facility to add services in the areas of chronic wasting disease, scrapie, leptospirosis, bovine viral diarrhea, and bacterial culture and identification. These are a few of the diseases that the laboratory can test for and services that the laboratory can perform.
The BADDL is open to the public Monday through Friday between 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM, excluding holidays. Submissions to the laboratory can be made by private cattle owners and veterinarians alike. Depending on the disease, the laboratory may require blood, feces, ear notch, tissue, organs, or the entire animal. When submitting a sample, it is important to follow the guidelines because certain tests require specific tissues or fluids. A few recommendations are listed below.
- Collect the specimen prior to administration of antibiotics.
- Collection should be done in a sterile container.
- Collect an adequate amount.
- Provide a thorough clinical history with the specimen, as well as adequate labeling. Include animal ID, type of sample, and collection date.
Certain laboratory tests require more specific collections. These collection methods are: bacteriology, clinical pathology, cytopathology, histopathology, molecular biology, necropsy, rabies testing, and virology. If there is a question about the sample submission, it is better to call the laboratory to get appropriate guidance. Occasionally, there are many types of tests available for a single disease. The laboratory may guide the submitter regarding the suitable sample based on the scenario.
The BADDL offers many services. Several of their more common services are listed in Table 1, with the sample requirements and turnaround time.
Table 1. List of common services.
Additional Resources
To make it more convenient for producers to submit samples to the laboratory, the BADDL provides an option to create shipping labels via FedEx. This and more information can be found at the BADDL website (https://www.fdacs.gov/Agriculture-Industry/Livestock/Bronson-Animal-Disease-Diagnostic-Laboratory-BADDL). You can also contact the laboratory via phone at (321) 697-1400. The laboratory recommends owners contact their veterinarian for guidance regarding the submission of samples.
Additionally, the laboratory provides educational information for producers. One of those educational resources is their free quarterly newsletter.
Anyone can register to receive this newsletter electronically via the BADDL website. The laboratory provides over 150 laboratory diagnostic tests and exists to support those in food production. The laboratory strives to provide scientific expertise in detecting causes of animal disease and is an important asset to Florida's cattle producers and cattle industry.
