The Autonomous Communities (CCAA) may have 30 new laboratories from research centers and universities to carry out PCR tests for the diagnosis of Covid-19. With the 24 that had already been validated by the Carlos III Health Institute ( ISCIII ), there are already 54 laboratories that are made available to the Autonomous Communities to carry out these tests, which determine whether or not a person is infected with the coronavirus.
Of these 54 laboratories, around a dozen have veterinarians and animal health experts on staff. Some such as the laboratory network of the Complutense University of Madrid ( UCM ) are coordinated by veterinarians, in their case by professors Bruno González Zorn and José Manuel Bautista. Likewise, the mixed laboratory of Castilla y León in which the universities of Valladolid and Burgos participate, among others, also has the coordination of a veterinarian, David Rodríguez Lázaro, full professor and director of the Microbiology Area of the Faculty of Sciences of the University from Burgos.
On the other hand, among the laboratories with veterinary personnel is the University Institute of Animal Health and Food Safety ( IUSA ) of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC). The director of the IUSA, Antonio Fernández, has pointed out that “the IUSA-ULPGC is nothing more than the scientific arm of the Veterinary Faculty, in collaboration with the two official Veterinary Schools of the Canary Islands and numerous other public and private collaborations, regional, national and international ”.
L@s VETERINARI@S somos SANITARI@S pic.twitter.com/d4VKOgh4ME
— IUSA_ULPGC www.iusa.eu (@IUSAeu) May 3, 2020
Other participating centers include, for example, the Animal Health Analysis Unit (UASA); the Asturias Animal Health Laboratory; the Center for Research in Animal Health ( CISA ); the Institute of Research in Hunting Resources ( IREC ) of Castilla-La Mancha; the Veterinary Military Center of Madrid; the Veterinary Faculty of the University of Extremadura; and the Jesús Usón Minimally Invasive Surgery Center.
Likewise, the Regional Laboratory of Animal Health of Castilla y León, the Veterinary School of León and the Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development Neiker are also available for Covid-19 tests.
Lastly, the Ministry of Science and Innovation reports that a new procedure has been established by which research centers and universities, both public and private, that have the capacities to carry out Covid-19 PCR tests, have to send a Responsible statement to the Ministry in which they report that they meet a series of biosecurity requirements, technical and personal means.
Up to 30 centers have sent the responsible declaration, a procedure that remains open for other laboratories that meet these requirements. Now it is the Autonomous Communities that have to confirm that they have their support and supply them with the samples to carry out the tests and their validation process.