Abaxis, Inc. (NasdaqGS: ABAX), a medical products company manufacturing point-of-care blood analysis systems for both the medical and veterinary markets, today announced that the Center for Veterinary Biologicals of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has approved its VetScan Canine Ehrlichia Antibody Test Kit for use in rapid detection of canine Ehrlichia. Clint Severson, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Abaxis, said, "The USDA approval of the VetScan Canine Ehrlichia Antibody Test Kit now allows our customers to use our lateral flow rapid tests to detect canine heartworm, Lyme and Ehrlichia. Each test can be purchased on an individual basis so that each practitioner has the flexibility to decide which tests to use based on such factors as the history and presentation of the patient as well as the incidence of a particular disease in his or her geographic area. This is the only test approved for detection of antibodies to all three dominant species impacting dogs in the US: E. canis., E. chafeensis and E. ewingii. As a result this improves the efficiency and the economics of carrying out such testing on these vector-borne diseases." Dr. Craig Tockman, vice president of sales and marketing for North American Animal Health of Abaxis, added, "This approval represents an important development in Abaxis' ongoing program to provide veterinary professionals a wider range of diagnostic options suited to the geographic locations in which they practice. Because of the regional distribution of all the tickborne diseases, the VetScan Canine Ehrlichia Antibody Test Kit, which employs a patent-protected method of detecting antibodies reactive to outer membrane proteins of the Ehrlichia bacteria, will be an important new product in providing regionally appropriate diagnostic capabilities that can produce improved patient outcomes in a timely and cost-efficient manner."