The University of Delaware
Poultry Health System

The Poultry Health
System Infrastructure

The University of Delaware Poultry Health System has outstanding, state-of-the-art facilities to support disease surveillance diagnostic services and research. The Charles C. Allen Jr. Biotechnology Laboratory and the Lasher Laboratory are recognized as National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN) participating laboratories for the detection of avian influenza and exotic Newcastle disease. The NAHLN coordinates USDA’s laboratory capacity with the infrastructure of State and University-supported laboratories to enhance early detection of foreign animal disease agents and newly emerging diseases and to better respond to animal health emergencies.

On the UD Newark campus, faculty, professionals, and graduate students work in the Charles C. Allen Biotechnology Laboratory, George M. Worrilow Hall, and the Delaware Biotechnology Institute to improve our understanding of poultry diseases. Research spans a wide continuum from applied disease trials to genomics-based efforts. Research has led to the development of vaccines and applied management practices to control many economically important diseases.

The Lasher Laboratory, located in the heart of the poultry industry, is the University’s poultry diagnostic facility at the Elbert N. and Ann V. Carvel Research and Education Center in Georgetown. The Lasher Laboratory provides time-sensitive diagnostic services to the industry on a daily basis and helps to implement research findings. Veterinary diagnosticians and staff keep poultry health officials apprised of emerging diseases. These include researchers and experts in industry, state and federal agencies.

The Jones-Hamilton Poultry House at the Carvel Center is a fully instrumented production facility used to conduct research on poultry health, nutrition, and management under commercial conditions.