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SOUTHEAST POULTRY RESEARCH LABORATORY
Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory Mission Statement:
The mission of the Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory is to provide scientific solutions to national and international exotic, emerging and endemic poultry viral diseases through a comprehensive research program emphasizing basic and applied research in diagnostics, prevention, and control strategies, prediction of disease outbreak, molecular epidemiology, and understanding disease pathogenesis.
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US DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Agricultural Research Service South Atlantic Area Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory 934 College Station Road Athens, GA 30605 Phone: 706-546-3434 Fax: 706-546-3161 |
History
The Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory (SEPRL) was established in 1962 to study air sacculitis in broiler chickens. The laboratory's research program has subsequently expanded and evolved to address numerous emerging disease problems of the poultry industry. The SEPRL scientific staff provides a diverse pool of professional expertise, including veterinarians, virologists, immunologists, pathologists and molecular biologists. Support from technicians, animal caretakers, and administrative office personnel are critically important to the overall operation of the laboratory. The current total staff of 65 also includes contract support personnel, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows. The laboratory complex consists of many separate buildings located on 32 acres purchased from and adjacent to the University of Georgia. Specialized facilities, designed and operated to contain highly infectious diseases of poultry, allow research on these diseases to be performed without posing a threat to the environment, the public, or to the poultry industry. Throughout five decades of service, SEPRL has maintained close ties with industry, academia and other government agencies, consistently striving to provide an open, responsive research atmosphere. In 2015, The Avian Disease and Oncology Laboratory merged into SEPRL and is designated as a worksite of SEPRL. SEPRL is undergoing facility modernization with replacement of all facilities between 2017 and 2024.
INFORMATION ABOUT ATHENS, GEORGIA
David Suarez--Acting Laboratory Director
Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory
US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Southeast Area
934 College Station Road, Athens, GA 30605
Phone: 706-546-3434 Fax: 706-546-3161
Erica Spackman--Acting Research Leader
Exotic and Emerging Avian Viral Diseases
Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory
US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Southeast Area
934 College Station Road, Athens, GA 30605
Phone: 706-546-3617 Fax: 706-546-3161
John Dunn--Research Leader
Endemic Poultry Viral Diseases Unit
Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory
US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Southeast Area
934 College Station Road, Athens, GA 30605
Phone: 706-546-3642 Fax: 706-546-3161
John Dunn--Research Leader
Avian Disease and Oncology Laboratory
Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory
US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Southeast Area
934 College Station Rd, Athens, GA. 30605
Phone: 706-546-3642, Fax: 706-546-3161
Groundbreaking Ceremony
The Honorable Sonny Perdue, Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) delivered the keynote address at a groundbreaking ceremony for a new research facility at the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory (SEPRL), located at the U. S. National Poultry Research Center in Athens, Georgia, on Friday, November 3, 2017 from 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
The new facility will expand SEPRL capabilities to respond to highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreaks in providing research information for eradication and control, as well as data for control of Newcastle disease, enteric viruses and Marek’s disease, West Nile virus, and other exotic and emerging viruses of poultry and other birds.
In addition to Secretary Purdue the program included remarks from:
- The Honorable Sanford Bishop, Jr. Representative from the Georgia 2nd Congressional District
- The Honorable Casey Cagle, Lieutenant Governor of Georgia
- The Honorable Gary M. Black, Commissioner, Georgia Department of Agriculture
- Mr. Mike Giles, President, Georgia Poultry Federation
- Dr. Steven M. Kappes, Associate Administrator, USDA Agricultural Research Service
- Dr. Deborah Brennan, Director, Southeast Area, USDA Agricultural Research Service
- Dr. Eileen Thacker, Director, U.S. National Poultry Research Center, USDA Agricultural Research Service
- Dr. David E. Swayne, Director, Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory, USDA Agricultural Research Service
ARS is the chief scientific research agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory (SEPRL) implements poultry health research under the following three programmatic areas: 1) exotic and emerging viruses of poultry such as avian influenza and Newcastle disease; 2) oncogenic viruses such as Marek’s disease; and 3) pathogens that are endemic in U.S poultry production, which are the cause of enteric viral and respiratory diseases of poultry.
SEPRL Modernization Schedule:
Administrative and BSL-2 Research Facility – Completed October 2021
BSL-3/ABSL-3/BSL-3Ag Research Facility – Completed July 2022
ABSL-2 Facility – Beginning December 2021 and proposed completion March 2024
