Vet-LIRN Network Capacity Building for SARS-CoV-2: equipment for analysis of NGS library and data

Project Abstract The University of Illinois (UI) Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (VDL) is a full service, AAVLD accredited, all species, reference laboratory. UI VDL is a member of the VET-LIRN. As of Feb 17, 2023, UI VDL has tested 3,287 samples for SARS-CoV-2 and 350 samples of zoo animals in 13 different zoos were tested positive. Next- generation sequencing (NGS) is very useful in case investigation of SARS-CoV-2 in the veterinary diagnostic laboratory and could be affected by many factors including selection of sequencing methods, sequencing library quality, amount of viral genome, sample quality, sample pooling, and bioinformatics analysis. New equipment for analyzing both NGS library and big data will significantly increase our SARS-CoV-2 testing capacity and service quality for routine case diagnosis and surveillance coordinated by Vet-LIRN, thus enhancing Vet-LIRN network laboratory for SARS-CoV-2 testing.