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NAIROBI: The Veterinary sector in the Kenya is expected to receive a big boost with the entry of new veterinary lab testing services and technologies for owners of livestock, poultry and pets.
The new services will enable veterinary doctors to more easily access lab testing services for their animal patients before diagnosing and treating their diseases.
Previously, veterinarians had difficulty accessing such services in many parts of the country, leading them to treat their patients without conducting necessary lab tests
This is after Pathologists Lancet Kenya, the largest medical laboratory service provider in the country, announced that it will begin offering the crucial service in partnership with Idexx, a US-based manufacturer of testing equipment and platforms for livestock, poultry and pets among others.
The Lancet-Idexx partnership will see the latest animal lab testing technologies that are used in Europe, North America, Australia, South Africa and elsewhere in the world available in Kenya.
“For a long time in Kenya, many veterinary doctors (vets) have had to treat their animal patients without appropriate laboratory diagnostic tests for their animal patients,” said Dr Ahmed Kalebi, CEO of Lancet.
He added: “We seek to provide services to vets who are keen to do their work in an evidenced-based manner in order to boost the health of their animal”
Dr Kalebi, who is also a University of Nairobi Honorary Lecturer, said that due to difficulty in accessing lab testing services for animals in many parts of the country, some vets often approached labs meant for humans seeking lab tests for their animal patients.
“Since human laboratories are not calibrated for animal testing, some vets just decided to prescribe treatments without carrying out lab appropriate tests,” he said.
Dr Kalebi said it will leverage on its more than 25 branches across the country to deliver the services to veterinarians.
Lancet has established a reference lab in Nairobi which will handle all the samples from across the country and transmit results through online platforms to vets who previously had no access to these specialised tests.
For specialised tests, Lancet will rely on reference veterinary labs run by Idexx in South Africa.
Also to benefit from the new services are animal researchers and wildlife among many other users of veterinary lab testing services.
Idexx Regional General Manager Gail Caunter said the partnership with said its equipment and technologies will significantly enhance the veterinary sector in the country.
“Veterinarians in Kenya will access our large pool of our experts across the world in a bid to enhance the health of livestock, poultry and pets,” she said.
Chief Veterinary Officer in the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Dr Kisa Ngeiywa said the veterinary sector needs investors to tap into the available market.
He said that there are only a handful of veterinary labs in the country both in the public and private sector, which may not meet the demand and necessity for services.
“If these services are made more available, animal health will be enhanced in the country since veterinarians will not be doing guesswork. Their work will be based on evidence from the lab,” he said.
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