Agri-Food Laboratories: Containment Level 3 and Support Section

As a laboratory of the Alberta provincial government, the primary purpose of this section to enable the growth of Alberta's agriculture and food industry. The Containment Level 3 and Support Section does not offer any diagnostic services to the public.

This section is made of up of the Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSE) Lab, the Containment Level 3 Lab, the Histology Laboratory and the Media Preparation Lab.

The Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSE) Lab performs surveillance on high numbers of samples for Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy diseases. These diseases, also known as prion diseases, include Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in elk and deer, scrapie in sheep and Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle. The Agri-Food Laboratories TSE lab performs screening for BSE, CWD and scrapie. Surveillance for BSE is performed in accordance with the requirements of the World Animal Health Organization (OIE).

The TSE lab provides rapid, highly sensitive screening on large numbers of specimens, but does not perform confirmatory testing. Any suspicious or inconclusive specimen results are subject to a series of further testing by the CFIA National Reference Laboratories in Nepean (for CWD and scrapie) and Lethbridge for BSE.

A specialized containment unit, the Containment Level 3 (CL3) facility provides the Agri-Food Laboratories Branch with the capability to test for animal pathogens such as Highly Pathological Avian Influenza, Newcastle Disease, Foot and Mouth Disease and Classical Swine Fever. This will allow AFLB to respond in the event of a foreign animal disease outbreak. The CL3 Lab operates in full compliance with national guidelines for the operation of CL3 facilities, (Containment Standards for Veterinary Facilities, CFIA).

For more information on the Containment Level 3 and Support Section, please contact Section Head Margaret McFall.

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