On January 21st, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources announced the presence of elevated levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in surface water samples taken from Madison-area lakes and along the Yahara River.

The Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene Organic Chemistry Section analyzed the samples for 36 PFAS compounds, including PFOS and PFOA.

The Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene is one of four laboratories performing genetic sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 virus in Wisconsin patient specimens.

In this story from USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin, WSLH Communicable Disease Division Director Al Bateman explains why genetic sequencing surveillance is such a powerful tool for learning where the virus is circulating and how it is changing.

Dr. Allen (Al) Bateman has been named the new Director of the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene Communicable Disease Division. The position was previously held by Dr. Peter Shult for 24 years before he retired in December 2020. Dr. Bateman served as a Co-Assistant Director under Dr. Shult since 2017.

Dr. Bateman earned his PhD and Master’s degrees at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in cellular and molecular biology and virology, and public health epidemiology and global health, respectively. After completing his degrees Dr. Bateman gained experience in programmatic public health as an epidemiologist at both Wisconsin and North Carolina Departments of Health. He then was awarded a three-year NIH Fogarty Global Health fellowship for which he moved to Zambia and worked with the Zambian national diagnostic reference laboratory.

Dr. Bateman is a Diplomate of the American Board of Medical Microbiology, has published more than 30 peer-reviewed articles, serves as a peer-reviewer for a number of journals and serves on committees for the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) and many other international societies.

WSLH Newborn Screening Laboratory Co-Director and UW Professor of Pediatrics Mei Baker, MD, received the 2020 Paster Family Foundation Innovation Award from the UW School of Medicine and Public Health in recognition of her newborn screening research and implementation.

The award is given for a project, system improvement, or initiative that has made a difference in human health and/or the lives of patients and their families.

SMPH Dean Robert Golden wrote in Baker’s award letter, “Your work is a true expression of the Wisconsin Idea. To combine diagnostic science and technology with medical intervention to improve public health — this is what our school’s vision of healthy people and healthy communities is all about. You have helped this screening impact babies in all 50 states and brought hope to so many parents.”

Baker credits the Newborn Screening Lab team and her WSLH and SMPH colleagues.

“It is such an honor to be the 2020 recipient of the Paster Family Foundation Innovation Award. I truly appreciate the unwavering encouragement and support from the leadership at WSLH and the Department of Pediatrics,” she said. “My sincere gratitude to our newborn screening team in working with me over the past decade, and together we will achieve more in the future.”

Please note the following changes to the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene’s operations due to the observance of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day holiday.

The table below lists the hours of operations for our Clinical Specimen Receiving departments.

As always, if you have an off-hours emergency, please call the WSLH Emergency Pager at 608-263-3280.

 

On December 9th the Wisconsin Department of Health Services launched a COVID-19 wastewater surveillance dashboard. Dashboard data is provided by scientists with the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene COVID-19 wastewater surveillance program and researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

According to the DHS news release, “The new dashboard contains sewershed locations and boundaries, the levels of SARS-CoV-2 virus in the wastewater, and the daily new COVID-19 case rates within the chosen sewershed. A sewershed is an area of land where raw sewage from homes, businesses, and industries flows through a series of sewer pipes to a single downstream point, where it enters a wastewater treatment plant. Approximately 70 sewersheds are currently enrolled in this program, which covers over 50% of the state’s residents.”

Learn more from this NBC 15 story – https://www.nbc15.com/2020/12/11/wastewater-surveillance-leads-to-early-detection-of-coronavirus/

On December 8th the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Wisconsin Department of Health Services released the 2020-2021 fish consumption advisory booklet Choose Wisely: A Health Guide for Eating Fish in Wisconsin.

According to the DNR news release, “The updated booklet outlines safe-eating guidelines for fish based on levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), mercury and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) found in various Wisconsin water bodies. While fish are a primary source of important nutrients like omega-3s, they can also accumulate pollutants from their environment and food, causing health risks for humans.”

Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene scientists performed contaminants analyses on hundreds of fish in order to generate the data used to develop the advisory levels.

Please note the following changes to the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene’s operations due to the observance of the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.

The table below lists the hours of operations for our Clinical Specimen Receiving department. We will have staffing to accept clinical specimens at both our 2601 Agriculture Drive and our 465 Henry Mall facilities.

NOTE: Our Environmental Health Division will NOT be accepting samples on Dec. 24 – 26 or Dec. 31 – Jan. 2.

As always, if you have an off-hours emergency, please call the WSLH Emergency Pager at 608-263-3280.

 

The Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene’s wastewater surveillance research project was featured in the Capital Times series on University of Wisconsin-Madison research inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Research inspired by COVID-19: UW Hygiene lab uses wastewater samples to detect trends

On November 2, 2020, WSLH Director Jamie Schauer presented the 2020 WSLH Employee Recognition Awards via Zoom.

The WSLH Employee Recognition Awards Program was created in 2018 as one of many ways to bring awareness to all the great work being accomplished throughout the lab.

The nominees for the 2020 awards are (in alphabetical order):

• Lisa Berkan
• Erin Bowles
• Barb Gaffney
• April Meiller
• John Olson

And the Winners are …

Collaboration Award – Lisa Berkan

(Nominated by Dr. Dan Kurtycz)

In non-pandemic times, Lisa serves as the Clinical Testing Co-Chair of the WSLH Quality Assurance Committee.

During the pandemic, however, Lisa has taken on an important additional role – Acting as Quality Manager/Specialist of the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory/Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene COVID Laboratory (WWCL). This lab is performing several thousand tests a week for UW-Madison students, faculty and staff.

According to Dr. Kurtycz, Lisa “…has thrown herself into the role and is central to providing the documentation and operational constructs that have made the laboratory a reality. Her ability to ramp up and meet the needs of this crisis situation on campus from a standing start has been nothing short of remarkable. … Lisa is passionate in providing good laboratory service and always remembers that there is a patient connected to the sample.”

Congratulations Lisa!!

 

 

 

Education and Outreach – Erin Bowles

(Nominated by Noel Stanton and Jan Klawitter)

Erin Bowles was awarded the Educational/Outreach Award for her continued dedicated work with the Wisconsin Clinical Laboratory Network (WCLN). The WCLN is a group of 130+ Wisconsin clinical laboratories that comprises an essential link between state and local public health and clinical laboratories. Erin conceives topics, plans, finds speakers and/or presents, and moderates educational and timely webinars, all of this delivered monthly during non-pandemic times and more frequently during the pandemic.

In addition to webinars, Erin moderates a very active WCLN listserv and writes a WCLN Lab Message newsletter on a bi-weekly and sometimes weekly basis. She is seen as a WSLH go-to contact for a myriad of information, questions, and education for these labs.

According to Noel and Jan, “The WCLN members give so much to public health and Erin works hard to ensure they get education, information and help in return. Through the efforts of Erin and many other Communicable Disease Division staff, the WCLN and the WSLH are seen as models across the country for how to create, facilitate and grow a clinical laboratory network.”

Congratulations Erin!!

 

 

Staff Distinguished Service – Barb Gaffney

(Nominated by Steve Strebel)

Barb Gaffney has been with the State Lab for 30+ years in the Environmental Health Division. She is often the main “face and voice of the State Lab” that EHD customers see and hear as she staffs the AG Drive front desk in addition to her duties with Horizon Data Management and Water Microbiology data entry.

According to Steve, Barb “… shows her love and dedication to the lab each day by how she performs her job and reacts with our clients. … She comes in early to get the day off to a good start and always makes sure critical tasks are finished or delegated by the end of the day. She staffed the front desk without complaint during COVID and never missed a day in 4 months. … She has tremendous patience walking our clients through the proper steps to take valid water samples. … There was one time this summer that an elderly client just could not understand how to take the sample. Since the client lived near her, Barb actually went to the client’s home and took the sample for her after work.”

Congratulations Barb!!