Surveillance services
The School of Veterinary Medicine provides a post-mortem examination (PME) service for farmed livestock, in our state-of-the-art, purpose-built facilities. The service is delivered by our Post Mortem team in conjunction with the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA)
We are thrilled to announce that the Veterinary Pathology Centre will be accepting cases again starting 16 September!
If you have any questions or queries, our phone lines are now open, and our team is ready to assist you.
We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience our temporary closure may have caused and to express our gratitude for your understanding, we are offering a 10% discount on post-mortem examinations until the New Year, this will not include postmortems submitted via the DEFRA surveillance scheme.
Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to welcoming you back.
What are the benefits?
Surveillance activities enable us to monitor existing endemic diseases as well as detecting new and emerging exotic diseases. This protects individual animals, farms and the national herd and flock.
- A PME is often the only way to identify the presence of one or more concurrent diseases and to confirm the cause(s) of sudden death. This knowledge allows the rest of the herd or flock to be appropriately managed and/or treated.
- When diseases result in similar or vague signs of illness, a PME may be the only way to differentiate between them.
- Samples provided after death can provide valuable information about the deceased animal and surviving members of the group.
- Farm productivity can be improved by PME-informed treatment and management.
- Surveillance activities enable us to monitor existing (endemic) as well as detecting new and emerging (exotic) diseases. This protects individual animals, farms and the national herd and flock.
About our surveillance service
How does the service operate?
The referring vet calls the Veterinary Pathology Centre at the University of Surrey and provides the essential details of the case to enable triage by our pathologists.
Carcases will only be considered for PME if the animal:
- Has died within the last 48 hours - please phone us on +44 (0)1483 689823 if otherwise.
- Is delivered to the University’s PME facility directly or using a carcase delivery service (if available) - you can check your eligibility for free carcass collection service using the APHA postcode search tool.
In line with our operating procedures, any data concerning the animal owner will remain confidential. Data will be held by the University of Surrey and will not be shared without full consent. If a notifiable disease is suspected, the School of Veterinary Medicine has a legal requirement to report this to Defra.
Fees
In many cases farm animal PMEs and additional testing are subsidised by APHA, however, please contact us to check before submitting.
For cases that are not eligible for APHA subsidy, the full cost of the PME and additional testing will be passed onto the submitting vet.
Surveillance post-mortem price list
Hours of service
Between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday.
In order to make same-day post mortem feasible, carcases should be delivered by 3pm.
Delivery directions
All visitors should report to the reception at the front of the building.
Surveillance team
Dr Sarhad Alnajjar
Lecturer in Veterinary Pathology
Joana Crisostomo
Lecturer in Veterinary Surveillance and Investigation
Pablo Diaz Santana
Resident in Veterinary Anatomic Pathology
Tom Hussey
Pathology and Building Facilities Manager
Professor Roberto La Ragione
Professor of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology and Head of the School of Biosciences
Ollie Lonsdale
Senior Pathology Technician
Javier Marrero
Lecturer (Veterinary Anatomic Pathologist)
Hero Nye
Senior Pathology Technician
