Mizzou officials are praising a planned $30-million renovation and expansion of a key building at MU’s College of Veterinary Medicine.

The University broke ground on Friday afternoon on the college’s Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (VMDL). UM System President Dr. Mun Choi says the lab plays a key role in early detection of foot-and-mouth disease, African swine fever, chronic wasting disease and rabies.

President Choi says the expanded and renovated facility will add more than 34,000 square feet to the existing building on East Campus Loop. It will included separate lab spaces for clean materials and infected materials, along with an area for after-hours sample drop-offs.

State Rep. Kent Haden (R-Mexico), who serves on both the Missouri House Health and Mental Health Policy Committee and on the Joint Committee on Agriculture, spoke at Friday’s groundbreaking ceremony. Representative Haden worked for eight years for the Missouri Department of Agriculture (MDA) as the state epidemiologist.