What Diagnostic Services Does the Cornell Animal Health Diagnostic Center Provide?

The Cornell Animal Health Diagnostic Center (AHDC) is the New York State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, based at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine in Ithaca, NY. It provides veterinary diagnostic testing, guidance, and knowledge resources for New York State and for clients around the world. If you are a veterinarian, livestock producer, or animal-health professional who needs laboratory testing plus interpretation support, the AHDC is the relevant entry point on the college's site; if you need clinical care for a sick animal, contact one of the college's hospitals instead.

What the AHDC is

The college describes the AHDC as the "New York State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory" and summarizes its role as "veterinary diagnostic testing, guidance and knowledge resources, for New York State and around the world." Three things follow from that description:

• Testing — laboratory diagnostic work on animal samples.
• Guidance — professional support in choosing and interpreting tests, not just a results report.
• Knowledge resources — reference material for the veterinary community.

Its stated reach is both statewide (as New York's designated diagnostic laboratory) and international, so out-of-state and overseas clients are within its intended audience.

Services and scope: what the site confirms

The site does not publish a test menu, turnaround times, sample-submission requirements, or fees on the page reviewed here. Those details sit on the AHDC's own section of the site, so treat the table above as the confirmed frame and check the AHDC pages before shipping samples.

How to use it: a practical sequence

1. Confirm the test you need. Start from the AHDC section of vet.cornell.edu and identify the specific test or panel for your species and question. The site's general description does not list individual assays.
2. Get submission instructions before collecting. Because the site does not publish sample requirements on the main page, obtain the current submission guidance first — this avoids rejected or mishandled samples.
3. Call for guidance when the case is unclear. The listed number, 607.253.3900, is the contact point for the diagnostic center; use it to confirm test selection or routing.
4. Verify results logistics. Ask about reporting format and timing at the time you submit, since these are not stated in the available material.

Verification: a successful interaction ends with a confirmed test order, accepted sample, and a results report — each of which should be confirmed directly with the AHDC rather than assumed from the website overview.

Common pitfalls

• Confusing the diagnostic center with the hospitals. The Companion Animal Hospital (607.253.3060), Equine and Nemo Farm Animal Hospitals (607.253.3100), Cornell Ruffian Equine Specialists on Long Island (516.488.4510), and Ambulatory and Production Medicine (607.253.3140) are clinical services. The AHDC at 607.253.3900 is the laboratory.
• Assuming published fees or timelines. No pricing or turnaround information appears in the available site material; do not plan around assumed costs or schedules.
• Skipping the guidance step. The center explicitly offers guidance as part of its service — using it is part of getting a usable result, not an extra.

Where it fits in the college

The AHDC is one of the college's four "areas of focus," alongside Education (D.V.M., Ph.D., and M.P.H. programs), the Veterinary Hospital, and Research. That placement matters: the diagnostic center is a standing institutional service, not a one-off program, and it connects laboratory work to the college's research and clinical activities. For questions beyond diagnostics, general college information is available at 607.253.3000.