The phrase "a serious backlog" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to describe a significant accumulation of tasks, orders, or requests that have not been completed or addressed.
Example: "Due to the recent surge in demand, we are currently facing a serious backlog in our shipping department."
Alternatives: "a significant delay" or "a substantial accumulation".
Canada has tested only about 10,000 animals in the last decade, and has had a serious backlog of cases.
The lack of structure means you can easily allow a serious backlog of work to build up.
Passport Office staff are to strike on Monday over staff shortages which they say have led to a serious backlog in processing applications this year.
David W. Chen (NYT) ALBANY: McCALL FAULTS INSPECTION LAW A new law requiring annual inspections of retail food stores raises concerns over how the requirement would be met because the state already has a serious backlog of under-inspected sites, H. Carl McCall, the state comptroller, said yesterday.
On Tuesday, none were open, and on Wednesday just one out of four was operational creating a serious backlog for cases that would have normally been divvied up.
Six years earlier, and every year after, the inspector general for the Department of Veterans Affairs warned of serious backlogs and unreliable recordkeeping in the VA's health care system, on which millions of veterans rely.
This included nominating two members of the Supreme Court, which is said by insiders to have distracted the entire White House counsel's office for ten weeks on each occasion.Wherever the fault lies, the backlog is a serious problem.
There were wonderful tidbits, like how our backlog of declassified documents is 400 million pages, and a serious discussion of whether we go overboard with secrecy.
Personally, I plead guilty to having a backlog of pleas and stories from Haiti, including reports of a serious increase of rapes in the camps.
If backlogs for VA claims are notoriously troublesome, those for doctor visits actually present a serious health risk to veterans.
In fact, Americans have so many good ideas that they created a record backlog of patent applications at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, presenting both an opportunity and a serious problem for our economy.
