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UNIVERSITY PARK -- Penn State has broken ground on a $65 million expansion of its Animal Diagnostic Laboratory, a project designed to increase testing capacity and improve the university's ability to detect animal diseases.
Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding and Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences Dean Troy Ott participated in the groundbreaking for the 46,000-square-foot, two-story addition at University Park.
The Animal Diagnostic Laboratory, originally constructed in 1956 and last extensively renovated in 1999, conducts diagnostic testing related to animal health, disease surveillance, food safety and public health.
The addition will increase laboratory capacity and include new Biosafety Level 3 space. Such laboratories have enhanced safety measures that allow testing involving infectious diseases, including highly pathogenic avian influenza and African swine fever.
The project also will connect the new addition with the existing laboratory and address aging infrastructure. Plans include improvements to biosecurity, security and access, as well as additional space intended to accommodate future diagnostic needs.
Redding said diagnostic facilities play a role in detecting and preventing disease outbreaks and responding when animal-health emergencies occur.
The Penn State laboratory is part of the Pennsylvania Animal Diagnostic Laboratory System, a state-supported network that provides animal disease testing and surveillance.
The system expanded earlier this year with the addition of the Keystone Animal Diagnostic Center at Penn State Beaver. Other facilities in the network include the Pennsylvania Veterinary Laboratory in Harrisburg and the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center.
All four laboratories are members of the National Animal Health Laboratory Network.
During the 2025-26 state fiscal year, laboratories in the Pennsylvania system tested 669,788 animal specimens. Testing included surveillance for avian influenza, rabies, chronic wasting disease and equine herpesvirus, among other diseases.
Ott said the expansion will provide infrastructure needed to support the laboratory's diagnostic work and animal-health programs.
The Penn State project is one of several investments in Pennsylvania’s animal diagnostic laboratory system this year. A $94 million laboratory project also recently broke ground at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine.