CSIRO Livestock Industries' has opened a diagnostic emergency response centre at the Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL) in Geelong, Vic, to speed up its handling of exotic animal disease outbreaks.

Federal Science Minister Senator Kim Carr says the state-of-the-art laboratory will be able to process more samples in a shorter amount of time.

"AAHL's core responsibility is to respond to outbreaks of emergency animal diseases such as foot and mouth disease or equine influenza," Sen Carr said.

"The emergency response laboratory gives the Government further confidence that AAHL and the nation will be ready to detect and quickly respond to even the worst such outbreaks."

The new high-throughput testing laboratory will play a dual role at AAHL.

During 'routine mode' when there is no emergency animal disease outbreak, the laboratory will continue to function as a core diagnostic area, an area for test development and validation and for predictive biomodelling activities.

"In the face of an outbreak the laboratory will become an assembly line for samples and will enable AAHL staff to perform serology tests on up to 10,000 samples per day, with maximum biosecurity," Sen Carr said.

"Australia's outbreak of equine influenza in August 2007 demonstrated the need for a high throughput laboratory in Australia," he said.

"Although the focus in recent months has been on equine influenza, foot-and-mouth disease is still considered the greatest threat to Australia’s livestock industries."

AAHL is a world leading research facility and since its establishment has been involved in a number of significant discoveries, including the identification of the Hendra virus in 1994.