Avian and Wildlife Laboratory

About Us

The Division of Comparative Pathology launched the Avian & Wildlife Laboratory, an outreach veterinary reference laboratory service, in 1993. Recognized as the go-to lab for veterinarians in private practice and zoo/aquaria around the United States for routine and specialized bloodwork on a host of special species, the laboratory has gained international recognition for its expertise in biomarkers and testing options for inflammation and novel infectious disease testing. More than 190 presentations and 190 publications are a testimony to our devotion and impact to the field of avian, exotic, and wildlife medicine. See more at www.cpl.med.miami.edu

Rabbit Research Fund

Encephalitozoon cuniculi is a microsporidian parasite that can infect all species. In rabbits, while infection can often be unknown, some patients have very severe clinical signs including head tilt, rolling, kidney disease, and blindness. This can be a very hard syndrome to treat and manage and not all rabbits will respond completely to medication. As some other diseases can result in similar clinical signs and since this infectious agent is so prevalent in rabbits, diagnosis through serological testing is difficult. Developing better blood tests has been a main focus of our clinical research program as well as to understand how the results may reflect the future health of the patient and perhaps better engineer treatment regimens. Biomarker development to assess the inflammatory process associated with infection is a second area of study.

Avian Research Fund

Aspergillosis is a major cause of poor health and death in avian species ranging from pet parrots to penguins. It can often be a chronic infection with ill health not shown until it is too late to successfully treat. Diagnostic testing has proven difficult necessitating a multimodal approach involving bloodwork and often radiography and endoscopy in addition to assessment of clinical signs. Strengthening the specificity and sensitivity of bloodwork has been the main goal of our laboratory. We have made several strides with the development of novel assays and seek to continue our clinical research program in this area with special focus on new biomarker development.