A quick transformation of an InnoTech Alberta facility helped the Government of Alberta set up the country’s first lab to research whirling disease and learn more about its presence in Alberta’s fish populations. The unique facility, previously used for autopsies on large animals, was transformed over six weeks and is now a lab working to detect a parasite that is new to our Canadian landscape.
The province has dedicated $9.3 million to determine the extent of whirling disease—part of a three-point action plan to provide emergency response and early detection, education and mitigation. From that, $2.9 million will go towards funding six full-time technicians, operating the InnoTech Alberta lab and hiring additional staff across the province as part of education and mitigation efforts.