Lafora Screening update 7th Feb. 2013

The following update was posted on the WHDC website today:

Since our last update, Dr Minassian has engaged an additional Research Assistant, which should speed up the perfection of the new (old) Carrier test method that will give us an acceptable turnaround time and cope with the volume.

In the meantime, Dr Minassian and the laboratory team in Canada, are willing to accept blood samples for affected / unaffected tests, through the Lafora Group. The cost for the affected / unaffected test is £80. The blood samples will be retained so that, for those who want it, the dna can be used to subsequently carry out the new (old) Carrier test when it is up and running (there may be an additional cost for this).

To move this forward, we have organised a Testing Day on Wednesday 17th April 2013. The first people to be invited will be those who are still waiting for an affected / unaffected result from the Centogene testing. Then those requests that we have received whilst we have been waiting for the go ahead from Dr Minassian. Requests for new affected / unaffected tests need to be made either to:

Sue Holt - susan.holt@talktalk.net

or

Nora Price - laforatesting@mypostoffice.co.uk

If the demand for the Testing Day on 17th April is greater than we can cope with in one day, we will organise an additional day and post details on the Wire Haired Dachshund Club website. Sue and Nora will be in touch with those who have already made requests, to confirm details and get the relevant forms completed.

The testing day will again be held in the Midlands at the Poole House Veterinary Hospital , Lichfield, Staffs.WS13 8BY. We will allocate time slots as we co-ordinate requests.

In the meantime, breeders can use the information on the Wire Haired Dachshund Club web site www.whdc.co.uk to check the status and background breeding of animals they are considering for use in their breeding programmes.

We will post any new updates here – thank you for your continued patience.