The Guyana Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory is 45% complete and is expected to be commissioned in approximately four months, the Government Information Agency said yesterday.
This US$2.5M investment at Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara will be equipped to test for brucellosis which is caused by bacteria and affects mainly animals, including goats, sheep, pigs, cattle, and dogs, bovine (cattle) diseases, leptospirosis and tuberculosis among other afflictions.
The laboratory is being constructed on what was previously the Animal Health Lab which was barely ever used and was not functioning as a full-fledged lab, GINA said.
Minister of Agriculture Dr Leslie Ramsammy, who visited the site yesterday, expressed satisfaction with the progress thus far.
This lab is vital, he said, because Guyana wants to consolidate its food security.
“We can’t talk about looking at the health of animals and not have a credible animal health lab,” he said. Ramsammy said, according to GINA, that while Guyana will do some testing abroad, Government wants to ensure that basic laboratory testing for animals is available.
