The WTO Quality Control Lab of the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences Lahore has optimised an effective molecular technique for quick diagnosis of foot and mouth disease (FMD).
The method of Reverse Transcription- Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) has been optimised for the diagnosis of FMD and is available for public use in the university. The efforts of scientists, technical staff and PhD students of WTO Lab have made this achievement possible.
RT-PCR method is quick for diagnosis and its results are accurate. The WTO Lab is also working on isolating and characterising field serotypes of FMD so that an effective polyvalent vaccine employing locally prevalent serotypes of FMD may be manufactured. The Lab has also recently organised a weeklong workshop on "RT-PCR for diagnosis of FMD Virus" to train veterinarians and para-veterinarians on this effective technique of diagnosis of FMD. The Lab is also working on production of bird flu vaccine.
The WTO-Quality Control Lab was established with the support of the Punjab government at a cost of 99.998 million to test the livestock and food of animal origin for quality assurance to meet the export and import requirements according to the WTO charter and to produce human resource in this field.