THE Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) of Negros Occidental noted an increase of 7.87 percent in the laboratory services mainly due to advanced technical knowledge and capabilities of its research and laboratory personnel.
The improved services are also attributed to the procurement and availability of state-of-the-art laboratory equipment and facilities, it said.
The PVO records showed that for the month of April alone, there were 5,984 analyses performed and 3,437 clients served by its laboratory personnel.
These services included the conduct of fecalysis, complete blood count, antibiotic sensitivity test, necropsy, direct fluorescent antibody test for rabies diagnosis, and selected blood chemistry analyses from samples collected and delivered from six PVO District Field Units and walk-in clients.
In terms of feed and meat laboratory services, the laboratory has conducted 220 feed analyses and 20 microbial count on meat analyses with 110 clients served.
It has also rendered technical assistance to five schools particularly for research and experiments of the students.
Provincial veterinarian Renante Decena said research and laboratory personnel are currently engaged in different fields of research aligned with the Negros First priority agenda.
The province’s food security program primarily focuses on disease prevention and control as well as strengthening the local livestock and poultry industry, Decena said.
The PVO Research and Laboratory Division is divided into three sections: diagnostic, clinics and research, and feed and meat laboratory.
The Diagnostic Section comprises parasitology, virology, hematology or serology, selected blood chemistry analysis and pathology.
The Clinics and Research Section caters to consultation, treatment and vitamin supplementation as well as research studies related to livestock and poultry and lastly, while Feed and Meat Laboratory performs feed and meat analyses.
The latter also caters requests from livestock and poultry raisers to ensure that the feeds and feed-stuff for their animals are in good quality.
Through this, safe and hygienic meat products being sold in the market can be ensured, he added.
The Feed and Meat Laboratory Section also performs soil analysis, which is vital for the enhancement of soil condition necessary to ensure feeds nutritional values that could support nutritional needs of animals.
Decena expressed optimism that the technical capabilities of the personnel in performing their functions effectively with advance facilities and equipment available will continue and further improve.
“PVO as a unified and highly responsive organization with qualified competence and committed staff will propel the development of livestock and poultry industry, which is significantly contributing to the economy of Negros Occidental,” he added.