YESLAB, the central laboratory of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, is located adjacent to the Equine Hospital and Small Animal Hospital in Viikki. YESLAB provides most of the laboratory services needed at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital and also serves researchers at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. In addition, services in clinical microbiology are provided to external veterinarians and veterinary practices through a dedicated customer channel.
The on-call laboratory is open at all hours every day of the year. The laboratory makes is possible to carry out necessary and urgent laboratory testing to assess the status of the animal patients and determine the cause of their symptoms.
The portfolio of the laboratory of haematology and clinical chemistry includes the most common laboratory assay techniques for analysing animal blood samples, urine and faeces. The laboratory also carries out cytology assays on lavage samples and aspirates. The most important laboratory results can be reliably obtained within one to two hours of sampling, and almost all of the results will be available on the same day. Rapid analysis is essential particularly when suspecting internal medicine diseases, when preparing for demanding surgical operations, and when monitoring patients in intensive care. For rarer analyses, the laboratory has an extensive network of partner laboratories to which samples are sent on a regular basis. In such cases, the results will be obtained within few days or weeks.
The laboratory of clinical microbiology investigates bacteriological specimens collected from animals. The laboratory’s portfolio includes conventional aerobic and anaerobic cultures as well as antibiotic susceptibility testing for microbes. Diagnostics are based on matrix-assisted mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF). The laboratory is also responsible for monitoring the antimicrobial resistance of bacteria occurring in companion and hobby animals in Finland, distributing information on the responsible use of antibiotics. Regular monitoring of resistance among the bacterial strains found at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital and the screening of at-risk patients for the prevention of hospital-acquired infections are also part of the laboratory’s duties. Further information on laboratory operations and instructions for submitting samples are available on the website of YESLAB and the laboratory of clinical microbiology.