Submission Guidelines Overview

Who can submit a sample

Animal owners generally use VDL services through their veterinarians who have expertise in selecting, preparing, and shipping the proper specimens for testing.

Submitting to the U of M VDL through a licensed veterinarian increases quality and integrity of the submission and allows for the veterinarian to provide interpretations when necessary.

How to submit a sample

To submit a sample follow these steps: 

To receive your reports and review your results, view our reports page.

General submission information & policies

Sample collection procedures may vary depending on the type of testing requested and may affect the accuracy of the results. For that reason, please follow the guidelines for specific tests and procedures listed in our Tests & fees section, as well as any procedures described on current VDL submission forms.

Documents for samples originating outside the US (PDF)

Diagnostic samples from humans will not be tested. Contact local public health officials for information.

Large number of samples?
Please call the VDL ahead of time if you are submitting 200 or more specimens for a single submission 

Timing and turnaround
Samples must be received at least one business day before the scheduled testing day in order to be tested on that day. Samples may not always be run on the first scheduled testing day after they arrive, but testing will be completed within the posted turnaround time. If rush testing is desired, please contact us.

We reserve the right to subcontract any work required to complete testing of any and all submissions. Any work subcontracted will be indicated as such on the laboratory report.

Sample retention policy (PDF)

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Specimen ownership

Biological samples (“Samples”) submitted to the University of Minnesota Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (“VDL”) become the sole property of the VDL. VDL will have the sole authority regarding disposition of Samples including, but not limited to, the rights to collect, study, store, transfer, and/or dispose of Samples and associated data. VDL and its transferees will retain intellectual property rights in any discoveries or inventions made using Samples.  Any intention to retain any rights in or assert any proprietary restrictions on the Samples, must be communicated in writing prior to or at the time of submission of the Samples to VDL. VDL will honor reasonable requests from Sample providers to transfer aliquots/portions of Samples to third parties for production of autogenous (farm specific) vaccines.