1. Veterinary Laboratory Investigation and Response Network Renate Reimschuessel 1, Sarah Nemser 1, Andriy Tkachenko 1, Olgica Ceric 1, Jake Guag 1, David Rotstein 2 1 United States Food and Drug Administration, Center for Veterinary Medicine, Office of Research, 8401 Muirkirk Rd, Laurel, MD 20708 USA 2 United States Food and Drug Administration, Center for Veterinary Medicine, Office of Surveillance and Compliance, 7519 Standish Place, Rockville, MD 20708, USA Map depicts geographic location of Vet-LIRN laboratories based on the Food Emergency Response Network (FERN) Regions Diagnostic Response The Veterinary Laboratory Investigation and Response Network (Vet-LIRN) coordinates with the FDA Office of Surveillance and Compliance (S&C) to evaluate potential adverse event cases involving CVM regulated products. In turn, Vet-LIRN coordinates the resources and expertise of various veterinary diagnostic laboratories to further investigate select cases through diagnostic testing and analysis. Funding There are a total of 37 network laboratories 30 receive infrastructure grant funding 11 receive method grant funding Proficiency Testing Collaborating with the CFSAN’s Division of Food Processing Science and Technology and the Institute for Foods Safety and Health, Illinois Institute of Technology Vet-LIRN offered 13 Proficiency Tests:  Salmonella in dog fecal samples (4 PT rounds)  Listeria in dog food samples (2 PT rounds)  Aflatoxin in milk (2 PT rounds)  Flunixin in milk  Copper in ruminant liver  Lead in equine blood  Melamine and Cyanuric Acid in fish muscle  Melamine and Cyanuric Acid histopathology Vet-LIRN MISSION TO PROMOTE HUMAN and ANIMAL HEALTH by collaborating with veterinary diagnostic laboratories in order to - provide scientific information - build laboratory capacity for routine and emergency response - train scientists TO INVESTIGATE POTENTIAL PROBLEMS with CVM regulated products - animal foods and animal drugs Cooperative Agreement Program: Evaluation of Salmonella in Symptomatic and Asymptomatic Pets Eleven Vet-LRN cooperative agreement laboratories are evaluating Salmonella prevalence in the cat and dog pet population across the country. Goals for the study include: Harmonize and validate methods Establish future surveillance needs Identify a baseline for comparative analysis Collaborations with other Networks Vet-LIRN became a member of the Integrated Consortium of Laboratory Networks (ICLN) in 2013. This membership will help increase connectivity and collaboration with other laboratory networks accountable for providing timely, credible, and interpretable data in support of surveillance, early detection, and consequence management of events requiring an integrated national laboratory response. Publications Nemser et al. Investigation of Listeria, Salmonella, and Toxigenic Escherichia coli in Various Pet Foods. Foodborne Pathogens and Disease. 2014. Tkachenko et al. Investigation of melamine and cyanuric acid deposition in pig tisssues using LC-MS/MS methods.Food and Chemical Toxicology. 2015. How this work supports FDA’s mission :  Contributes to overall food and drug safety as animal food and drug events may signal potential issues in the human food and drug system.  Supports efforts to develop and evaluate diagnostic methods to facilitate testing conducted by network laboratories when investigating adverse events.  Facilitates collaborations with other stakeholders and timely exchange of information that can be crucial for identifying a problem with FDA regulated products. This project was supported in part by an appointment to the Research Participation Program at the Center for Veterinary Medicine administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education through an interagency agreement between the U.S.DOE and the U.S.FDA.