Caitlin Van Meter, medical technician, prepares milk samples for HPAI testing at the OVDL's Receiving Department. 

Testing for highly pathogenic avian influenza has been ongoing at the Oregon Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory for nearly three years, with no end in sight.    

Before HPAI came on the scene, the OVDL was one of Oregon’s lead laboratories in the COVID-19 pandemic, testing more than 300,000 human samples for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. So, they have experience handling the practicalities of high-capacity testing.  

Dr. Duncan Russell is an associate professor of anatomic pathology at the Oregon Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory at the Oregon State University Carlson College of Veterinary Medicine.