Laboratory diagnosis is an indispensable tool to confirm a disease when it emerges, in order to be able to implement adequate rapid response to contain the disease.

The Food and Agriculture of the United Nations (FAO) works closely with the Department of Animal Health (DAH) in building capacity for improvement and upgrade of laboratories required for carrying out isolation of pathogenic animal viruses, particularly Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI).

In order to enable the National Centre for Veterinary Diagnosis, the country’s key animal isolation unit to carry out virus challenge trials, the laboratory was upgraded with high bio-containment facilities.  The upgrade was done with support from various donors .  With the upgrade, the laboratory rooms were designed with specific criteria, which include the hight temperature, air pressure control, humidity control and lighting, in order to make sure that it complied with international safety standards.  The upgrade of the laboratory would enable the veterinary officials to identify any slight shift or drift in the viruses circulating in the affected poultry flocks.

Currently, seven out of nine regional animal health laboratories (RAHO) in Viet Nam are able to diagnose HPAI on a routine basis.