HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Animal Diagnostic Laboratory System (PADLS) will expand, adding a new location at Penn State University’s Beaver Campus in Monaca. Funded by a $6 million investment secured by Governor Josh Shapiro in the bipartisan 2024-25 budget, the expansion will increase Pennsylvania’s capacity to respond to animal disease outbreaks, speeding diagnoses for farmers in the western part of the state, lowering their business costs, and helping protect their animals and investments.

The new lab will join the system’s three cutting-edge labs: the PA Department of Agriculture’s Pennsylvania Veterinary Laboratory in Harrisburg, Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences’ Animal Diagnostic Laboratory in University Park, and the New Bolton Center at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine in Kennett Square.

“Establishing a western animal health lab has been part of our long-term vision for decades. Pennsylvania’s food supply is safe and secure, due to swift, aggressive response to animal diseases like avian influenza,” Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding said. “Having a world-class diagnostic laboratory system with cutting-edge technology and skilled scientists is crucial to a healthy food production system, preparation and our emergency response. Adding a fourth lab on the Penn State Beaver Campus that’s part of our nation-leading Land Grant University continues that tradition of excellence and strengthens our capacity to help feed the growth our western counties are seeing in animal agriculture. This expansion is further proof that investments by the Shapiro Administration are feeding Pennsylvania’s economic future and protecting our rich agricultural heritage.”

“The new veterinary lab in Beaver County will be an incredible asset to agriculture in Western Pennsylvania,” Senator Elder Vogel said. ‘Animal health and welfare is a top priority for our farmers and with the establishment of a lab at Penn State Beaver vital services will be much more accessible. We are committed to growing agriculture in the region and the new lab is a great step forward.”

“Farmers have always relied on services such as animal testing and disease surveillance to protect their animals and grow their businesses. Establishing a lab in Western PA creates a level playing field for farmers across the state by providing greater access to PADLS services for farmers west of Interstate 99,” said PA Farm Bureau President Chris Hoffman. “The Western lab at Penn State Beaver will benefit not only agricultural producers, but our rural communities, the larger student body, and veterinarians in the region, leveraging PSU’s existing PADLS systems and processes, and their legacy of supporting our farmers.”

In 2024, PADLS labs tested 607,913 animal specimens, performing testing critical for monitoring diseases like avian influenza, rabies, chronic wasting disease and others. Laboratory services are essential to ensuring animal health, the safety of the food supply, and protecting Pennsylvania’s domestic and international trade.

More than 207,000 tests run by PADLS labs in 2024 were to determine whether avian influenza was present when poultry farms reported high numbers of deaths among their birds, to determine whether birds on nearby farms were free of the virus, so the farms could transport their goods. This testing, as well as the 22,000 tests the labs have run on bulk milk samples since the end of November 2024 to determine whether the virus was present in dairy herds, is crucial to early detection and response in Pennsylvania’s work to minimize virus spread and protect our food supply.