Cosray Labs is an Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care (MOHLTC) approved service provider for Mosquito Identification and Viral Monitoring. It is located in Deep River, the satellite town for the Chalk River location of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL). Our staff is drawn from the many skilled and highly trained technologists readily available in the area. Cosray Labs’ mission is to perform high quality work, with short turnaround times, providing our clients with rigorous, comprehensive, and timely test results.

Cosray Labs offers testing services for all species of mosquitoes. Cosray Labs can limit the testing to enzootic and/or bridge vectors to meet specific client requirements.

Gerry Chant, entomologist and president of Chant Fly Trap Systems Incorporated, heads Cosray Labs’ Mosquito Identification Team. In handling mosquitoes, our Mosquito Identification Team conforms to the guidelines specified by The National Steering Committee on West Nile Virus Surveillance. Mosquito specimens are identified and sorted on chill-tables, using stereo-zoom dissection microscopes, with fibre-optic light sources, and are stored at -80°C until they are viral tested.

Dr. Paul Unrau, president of Nucleic Acid Research Laboratories Incorporated (NARLI), heads Cosray Labs’ Viral Monitoring Team. Cosray Labs personnel are leaders in the area of PCR, with nearly 20 years of experience in PCR and holding PCR-based patents. Cosray Labs’ Viral Monitoring Team adheres to the protocols developed by The National Zoonotics Lab in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. In ensuring quality testing for our clients, Cosray Labs’ Viral Monitoring Team maintains close relations with The National Zoonotics Lab.

The general process for WNv testing at Cosray Labs entails: Homogenizing mosquito pools from Cosray Lab’s Identification Lab in lysis buffer to inactivate WNv, RNA extraction in HEPA filtered cabinets under Biological Safety Level 2 conditions within a dedicated facility, and analysis in a separate PCR lab to avoid contamination.

Cosray Labs uses the MJ Research Opticon^TM 2 Real Time RT-PCR apparatus to perform the "Gold Standard" assay for the presence of WNv in mosquito pools. Probes and primers for the envelope and generic sequences are used to identify infected mosquito pools. Test results are formatted and delivered in accordance with the requirements set forth by the MOHLTC.

Cosray Labs offers Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) viral testing services. Please contact Cosray Labs for further information.

Program Coordinator: Ann Unrau
General Enquiries: unraua@magma.ca

Cosray Labs
PO Box 1972
Deep River, ON, K0J 1PO
Canada

+1 (613) 584-4491

+1 (613) 584-4124

120 Deep River Road
(access from Huron Street)