Texas will have new tool in fighting poultry disease with new lab

Gonzales, Texas

-- A new state poultry diagnostic laboratory building will expand its current testing capacities thanks to a gift from its former director.

Dr. Sam Glass became the director of Texas A&M's South Texas Poultry Research Station in 1963 and continued to serve in that capacity when the research station's work switched to the existing lab when it opened in 1971. He served as the laboratory director until his retirement in 1997. His unspecified donation of a "prime parcel of land" will allow for the new laboratory to be built about a mile from its current location, according to Dr. Tammy Beckham, current laboratory director.

The existing laboratory will become Gonzales County property once the new facility is complete, she adds.

The state lab, operated by the Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory under the Texas A&M System since 1991, is located in a major poultry and production area. It receives specimens submitted by commercial poultry companies, veterinarians and independent poultry producers that need to be tested for poultry diseases.