Collaboration with the clinical microbiology laboratory optimizes diagnosis of dog and cat infections: recommendations from the American College of Veterinary Microbiologists

Clinical veterinary microbiology laboratories and microbiologists are critical in combatting emerging and endemic pathogens and reducing the impact of antimicrobial resistance. For veterinarians, the microbiology laboratory can be an enigmatic place as results from the lab are produced with little transparency and thus can feel disconnected from the submitted specimen. Submission of clinically representative and high-quality specimens to the microbiology laboratory, with a good clinical history, is critically important because it enables the laboratory to produce accurate, efficient, and clinically relevant results. In human medicine, the Infectious Disease Society of America and the American Society of Microbiology have developed a guide for the use of microbiology laboratories to diagnose infectious diseases. It summarized best practices for clinicians and laboratorians to work together to lead to better patient outcomes. The goal of this article was to bring together veterinary microbiologists to build a guide inspired by the Infectious Disease Society of America/American Society of Microbiology document for use in veterinary medicine and to consolidate other recommendations for use in the veterinary microbiology laboratory.