A new $108 million animal health laboratory in Turlock will help California farmers and veterinarians detect potentially dangerous animal diseases more quickly, respond to outbreaks and protect the state’s food supply. The facility, operated by the University of California, Davis, Weill School of Veterinary Medicine in partnership with the California Department of Food and Agriculture, or CDFA, is nearly nine times larger than the lab it replaces.
The new facility is part of the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory System, or CAHFS, a network of four laboratories headquartered at UC Davis and operated by the veterinary school for the state.
Until now, the Turlock lab handled only poultry, so veterinarians and ranchers with deceased cattle, horses, pigs or goats that needed evaluation had to go to the other lab locations…