Pennsylvania Animal Diagnostic Laboratory System
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9.5.1 Field Necropsy Submission Kits

Circumstances occasionally require practitioners to conduct postmortem examinations on client premises or in the clinic. Prepurchased specimen collection kits-complete with instructions, containers, swabs, transport media, and shipping box-are available for cases of abortion, pneumonia, and diarrheal disease. All PADLS laboratories are prepared to receive and process packages containing field necropsy specimens.

The US Postal Service and commercial couriers have strict regulations regarding the packaging of potentially hazardous biological and chemical materials. Resistance to crushing and the containment of leaked fluids are prime considerations. Formalin-fixed tissues should be in screwtop containers, the lid taped, and placed within a leak-proof, plastic bag. Excess formalin may be removed, if fixation is complete, leaving enough fluid to keep the specimen moist. Do not allow fixed tissues to become frozen from ambient temperatures, dry ice or super-frozen ice packs. Fresh tissues should be double bagged; if delayed in transit, gas distension from putrefaction could cause leakage. Tissues for microbiological procedures should be chilled and not frozen. Specimens for toxicologic analysis may be fresh or frozen; to avoid contamination of the specimen selection, the proper container is important (see Toxicology section for details).

ProcedureSpeciesTissue/
Specimen		ContainerShipping*Turn
Around		Remarks
Diarrhea kitCalves, pigletsAs per enclosed instructionsStyrofoam shipping box included with kitOvernight courier, mail only M-Th 14 daysAdditional information is provided in Submission Supplies section.
Necropsy kitAgricultural animalsSelected by submitterStyrofoam shipping box as described aboveOvernight courier, mail only M-Th14 daysField necropsy samples submitted by a referring vet are processed the same as submitted animals. Consult with the case coordinator regarding history and sample/test selection.
*If shipping to PSU, do not use the US Postal Service

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