The Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA) was an

executive agency An executive agency is a part of a government department that is treated as managerially and budgetarily separate, to carry out some part of the executive functions of the United Kingdom government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government or Nort ...

of the

UK government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_es ...

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities in the United K ...

(DEFRA). It carried out animal disease surveillance, diagnostic services and

veterinary Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in animals. Along with this, it deals with animal rearing, husbandry, breeding, research on nutri ...

scientific research for government and commercial organisations. It was based in

New Haw New Haw is a village which is part of the Borough of Runnymede in Surrey, England. It is located approximately south of Addlestone and southwest by west of London. Geography New Haw borders Byfleet, Addlestone, Weybridge, Ottershaw, West Byf ...

, though had offices and laboratories around the country, such as in

Sutton Bonington Sutton Bonington () is a village and civil parish lying along the valley of the River Soar in the Borough of Rushcliffe, south-west Nottinghamshire, England. The University of Nottingham has a site just to the north of the village: Sutton Boni ...

. It was both an

International Reference Laboratory International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

and the

EU Community Reference Laboratory The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

for

avian influenza Avian influenza, known informally as avian flu or bird flu, is a variety of influenza caused by viruses adapted to birds.

History

1894 - The Central Veterinary Laboratory (CVL) is established in a small basement room in Whitehall, London to deal with a swine fever epidemic.
1917 - The Laboratory moves to its current location in Weybridge. The site is still known as Weybridge today, although the postal address is now Addlestone.

Merger with Animal Health

On 29 June 2010 DEFRA announced that the VLA would be merged with

Animal Health Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in animals. Along with this, it deals with animal rearing, husbandry, breeding, research on nutri ...

. The merger was completed on 1 April 2011, forming the

Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), formerly known as the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA), is an executive agency of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) of the United Kingdom. It was for ...

References

External links

Veterinary Laboratories Agency

Agricultural organisations based in the United Kingdom Defunct executive agencies of the United Kingdom government Organisations based in Surrey Government agencies established in 1995 Government agencies disestablished in 2010 Science and technology in the United Kingdom Veterinary medicine in the United Kingdom {{science-org-stub