HOLIDAY HOURS:
Closed Dec 25-26, 2014 and Jan 1-2, 2015.
Thank you all for a great year! We continue to work toward our mission to offer the highest quality tests for chronic infectious disease and to educate the public about the risks of Bartonella spp infection through our “Healthy Pets, Healthy Families” program. To that end, we are happy to announce a few key accomplishments this year:
Veterinary workers at Higher Risk for Infection
In a study conducted by our colleagues at Duke University, 28% of symptomatic veterinarians tested positive for Bartonella spp, compared to 0% of the control population (Lantos, 2014). This study adds to the growing evidence that animal workers are the highest risk group for chronic Bartonellainfections.
Expanding Test Menu for Human Health
Bartonella ePCR™ is the most sensitive, specific, and confirmatory test for the diagnosis of Bartonella spp infection. Nonetheless, this year we added IFA serology for two common species of Bartonella for physicians who many find IFA useful for monitoring treatment and also as part of the recommended Triple Draw initial workup.
In early 2015, we are launching new PCR tests for tick-borne diseases. Our PCR tests are different from other lab offerings because we use genus-level primers and sequence identification for all positives. More details to follow!
Partnership with IDEXX Reference Laboratories
We are partnering with IDEXX to make our Bartonella ePCR™ widely available for veterinary use and to educate veterinarians and pet owners on the risks and clinical signs of Bartonella infection.