Have recieved this from Dr Holmes, Genetic Services Manager

In April, the AHT began accepting cheek swabs for the HC test
Unfortunately the DNA that we have been able to extract from these swabs has not been of a consistently high quality to enable us to offer the standard of service that we set ourselves. We are therefore no longer accepting swabs for these two tests with IMMEDIATE EFFECT from 17th AUGUST 2006.
Swabs already in the system will be processed.

We will accept blood samples from the UK and Europe.
Audstralian Samples can be sent to Curtin Medical School for processing. Samples from other countries can be accepted with prior arrangement- please contact dnatesting@aht.org.uk

I regret that it has been necessary to take this step since I know it will cause inconvenience for breeders, particularly those outside Europe.

Please address any comments to
nigel.holmes@aht.org.uk

I'm thinking that this is the health testing for Staffies?
Am I correct or will this also affect other breeds?

The above tests are for staffords yes

This is much what happened with cats and the PKD DNA test as well -a lot of cheek swabs have failed. Personally I always ask my vet to get a blood sample to play safe as it seems the cheek swabs are very hit and miss.

I gather there's a skill involved in getting a correct swab. Many amateurs (ie non-vets) can only get poor saliva samples rather than the skin cells that are needed.