CORVALLIS, Ore. — For decades, the Oregon Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory has served veterinarians, livestock producers and pet owners across the state, quickly processing samples and identifying diseases.

Lately, the Oregon State University facility also has been on the frontlines protecting human health against emerging zoonotic infectious threats — diseases that can be transmitted from animals to humans.

First it was COVID, then highly pathogenic avian influenza.

During the pandemic, the lab processed 300,000 human coronavirus tests.

The OVDL, part of OSU’s Carlson College of Veterinary Medicine, also saw an increased workload with bird flu.

The OVDL did roughly 12,200 molecular tests to diagnose all diseases in fiscal 2021. In the past six months, there have been about 20,000 tests from across the West.

Samples can’t wait with so much on the line for farmers and the public, said Kurt Williams, OVDL director.

So OVDL employees are working late hours on tight timelines to help halt the spread of diseases, and doing so in cramped and rundown buildings.

Williams said the situation risks burnout.

“It’s this unrelenting problem. But we understand that’s why we’re here,” Williams said.

Seeking new lab buildings

Williams said despite funding increases from the Oregon Legislature, more resources are needed.

He wants to launch a campaign to hire additional workers, purchase upgraded equipment and build new laboratories, both in Corvallis and at OSU’s Cascades Campus in Bend.

Donations and public funding would help pay for facilities, which could cost upwards of $100 million, Williams said.

“The benefits long term, it would pay for itself. We’d be prepared for things we’re not anticipating,” Williams said.

And new diseases surely are coming.

Not as prepared as needed

Oregon Rep. Ken Helm, the main contact for the lab in the Legislature, said he was happy Williams was looking forward.

“This really needs to be a joint effort. The reality is that state dollars won’t be adequate to do this alone,” the Beaverton Democrat added.

He hoped veterinarians and veterinary clinics would donate for improvements.

“The overall protective services that the diagnostic lab can provide benefits every single animal across the state with discoveries of what are the new threats,” Helm said.

“There’s no doubt we’re not as prepared as we should be. No doubt,” he added.

Dawn Dirks, OVDL supervisor for molecular diagnostics, virology and serology, said working conditions hurt morale.

“It’s really challenging. It takes a significant amount of time to get things funded to get repairs to happen,” Dirks said.

As rows of lab machinery hummed and computers connected to them analyzed genetic material, Dirks talked about leaky toilets and sinks. Overhead, brown circular water stains, like giant coffee mug marks, adorned white ceiling tiles.

Duct tape and cardboard supported an air conditioning unit in a nearby room.

Williams said OVDL workers believe in their mission.

Lab technician Caitlin Van Meter, who graduated from OSU last year, said she enjoys helping solve major problems.

“They’ll put up with grossly inadequate facilities to keep pursuing the larger objective,” Williams said.

Outdated facilities, new threats

State Veterinarian Ryan Scholz of the Oregon Department of Agriculture said OVDL facilities are designed for gentler risks.

Labs are held in the Veterinary Research Laboratory, built in 1952, as well as nearby Magruder Hall, which opened in 1981.

“Most of the diseases that were a regulatory concern back then don’t exist anymore. … Now we’re dealing with these fast moving diseases that have significant zoonotic exposure risks and we’re doing it in the same facility,” Scholz said.

For example, Magruder Hall’s necropsy suite didn’t have safety measures so workers could examine a Crook County pig with HPAI.

Instead, Williams and three workers did their necropsy examination and harvested tissue samples at a nearby campus.

Officials left Eastern Oregon at 5 p.m. on a Friday. They had test results at 8 a.m. the next morning.

Scholz said that with existing OVDL buildings, Oregon can’t expect protection against new and more dangerous zoonotic diseases.

“Our job is to make sure we’re prepared for what’s coming down the road. I don’t think we can do that,” he said.

Fast results

The OVDL, which has 50 workers, is Oregon’s only member of the National Animal Health Laboratory Network, allowing it to test for certain diseases, including several zoonotic diseases per USDA regulations.

The network is designed to protect U.S. agriculture from high threat animal diseases, including those of foreign origin.

Federal and state agencies rely on the lab for testing.

Officials can act on OVDL results without confirmation from a national laboratory, where samples can wait for weeks.

Scholz said agencies can respond rapidly, often the same day farmers notice diseases, thanks to the OVDL.

Pandemic lessons

With COVID, which also impacted animal populations, scientists became more sensitive to emerging threats.

Williams acknowledged some people think HPAI and a potential pandemic are a hoax.

“COVID should have been a wake up call to all of us about where we sit in the world,” Williams said.

Throughout history, infectious diseases have periodically brought civilizations to their knees.

Helm, the Oregon representative, said a trailing pattern exists. Throughout history, people quickly forget how horrible pandemics were.

“In our rush to get back to normal, we don’t think about the next time,” Helm said.

HPAI’s impact isn’t clear but leaders shouldn’t take it lightly, Williams said.

Since HPAI was first detected in the U.S. in February 2022, it’s resulted in the death of 160 million birds in commercial and backyard flocks, according to the USDA.

The virus, which is spread by migrating wild birds, has resulted in farm losses and supply shortages, pushing up the cost of poultry and eggs.

While authorities believe the risk to humans is low, scientists have become more concerned with HPAI moving through mammals, Williams said.

HPAI has been found in 959 dairy herds in 16 states, though Oregon didn’t have a confirmed case as of Feb. 6.

A second strain of HPAI — the same type that resulted in the nation’s only human death from the virus in Louisiana  — has been detected in dairy herds in Nevada.

So far, the nation has had 67 human cases, with 38 from California, 11 from Washington and one from Oregon. Almost all stem from dairy or poultry operations.

Several other mammal species also have been infected.

Williams said four pigs that tested positive in Oregon are particularly concerning. Pigs are susceptible to viruses from both birds and humans, which could cause intermingling and mutations.

Williams said a necropsy he performed on a domestic cat with HPAI was alarming, showing devastating injury to the lungs and inflammation in the brain and other organ systems.

“This virus, unfortunately, isn’t going anywhere,” Williams said.

Avian influenza testing

Williams said the state is taking the right steps to protect the public, including testing of farmworkers and residents exposed to outbreaks, birds in suspected commercial and backyard cases, wild animals and milk from dairy herds.

Since December, the OVDL has received 60 to 120 milk batches per week.

California declared an emergency with HPAI spreading through its dairies, and laboratories there have been inundated with milk testing.

The OVDL now gets numerous wild bird samples from California and other states.

New and emerging threats

Scientists believe zoonotic diseases are increasing due to factors such as climate change, habitat loss and globalization.

“We’ve had disease after disease that are new,” Scholz said.

People — and animals — can travel more easily than ever before, bringing new viruses with them.

As the human population increases and spreads out, changing land uses, species that haven’t been in close proximity to people may transmit new diseases.

Increased temperatures and humidity raise the likelihood of spillover diseases, in part because creatures’ ranges and migratory patterns change.

That’s happening now with a mosquito that carries dengue, which was inadvertently introduced to the country.

In July, one of those insects was found for the first time in Oregon in Jackson County.

Another mosquito borne disease, West Nile virus, has been in Oregon for decades but will likely spread.

In 2024, the OVDL tested about 1,200 pools of mosquitos, with up to 50 insects per pool.

Other diseases also are on scientists’ radar.

Julia Burco, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife veterinarian, said she was worried about leptospirosis, a disease found in seals and sea lions.

Then there’s chronic wasting disease.

Chronic wasting disease testing

CWD impacts deer and elk, and it hasn’t been detected in Oregon yet.

“We know it’s in so many states now. We’re surrounded by it on all sides,” said Ashley Reeder, ODFW CWD coordinator.

The OVDL is preparing a new space for testing for CWD and it should be ready for hunting season.

Oregon and other states currently send samples to Colorado and testing usually takes weeks.

Evidence doesn’t show the disease is transmissible to humans, but hunters shouldn’t eat tainted meat.

While the ODFW has increased its testing, with 4,000 samples in 2024, Williams said there probably isn’t enough being done given the state’s large populations of deer and elk.

Funding increase, budget deficit

The CWD testing space is thanks to extra funding from the Oregon Legislature.

From fiscal 2020 to 2023, the OVDL budget was in the range of $2.2 million to $2.4 million. It increased to $3.1 million in 2024 and then to more than $5 million for increased testing of CWD and other illnesses.

Renewed funding, with a slight increase, is before the Legislature.

But Williams said that doesn’t solve the OVDL’s budget problem given current demands.

“When you look at the cost of people, supplies, equipment building maintenance, we have a budget deficit,” Williams said.

Williams administers the ODVL, but he’s also on the facility’s rotating week-long necropsy duty. It’s important to show folks he can get his hands dirty, but he also enjoys the work and doesn’t just want to be an office manager.

He can examine anything from a mouse to a horse or a sea lion.

Every week he sees something new and he’s on the lookout for troubling signs.

“Infectious disease is always out there lurking and changing,” Williams said.