As a Co-Principal Investigator, Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene Newborn Screening Laboratory Co-Director and University of Wisconsin Professor of Pediatrics Mei Baker, MD, and the Principal Investigator UW Pediatrics Associate Professor Christine Seroogy, MD, received a three-year, $120,000 Baldwin Wisconsin Idea Endowment Grant for their project, “Development and Implementation of Rapid Genetic Test to Improve Health Outcomes in Wisconsin Plain Newborns.”

Their project aims to develop and offer a new approach to early diagnosis of medically important genetic disorders in Amish and Old Order Mennonite – collectively referred to as Plain – children of Wisconsin through routine newborn screening along with development and implementation of a rapid and low-cost genetic test.

The objectives of this project are informed by the findings of the investigators’ community partnership collaboration with a rural family medicine doctor in the Driftless region of Wisconsin, Dr. James DeLine. In collaboration with the newly established Center for Special Children in LaFarge, WI, this project will engage Plain community members throughout Wisconsin to improve early diagnosis of genetic disorders now known to occur in Wisconsin.

Outcomes to be measured include assessment of health outcomes and family perceptions of genetic testing. Achieving the project goal will not only improve the health of this underserved population of children in Wisconsin but will be informative to newborn screening and genetic testing for all newborns.

The Baldwin Wisconsin Idea Endowment is a competitive grant program that fosters public engagement and the advancement of the Wisconsin Idea, the notion that the knowledge and solutions generated at UW-Madison will benefit the people of Wisconsin, the nation, and the world.

The grant program honors the legacy of Ira Baldwin and Ineva Reilly Baldwin and their deep commitment to the Wisconsin Idea.

University of Wisconsin-Madison news story – https://news.wisc.edu/eight-projects-win-baldwin-grants/

Wisconsin Public Radio story (7/17/18) – https://www.wpr.org/genetic-screening-be-tailored-amish-newborns-wisconsin

 

A new Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) podcast tells the horror stories that can happen to families everywhere when there are no public health labs.

The podcast is the second in a series produced by cohort 10 of the APHL Emerging Leader Program. The podcast stories focus on emerging infectious diseases, newborn screening, and foodborne illness and highlight the vulnerabilities we all would face if there were no public health labs like the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene (WSLH) working to keep our communities and populations safe.

After the fictional (thankfully) stories, the podcast continues with subject matter expert interviews explaining how public health labs would meet the challenges presented in each story.

WSLH WI Clinical Laboratory Network Coordinator and Co-Biosafety Officer Erin Bowles, a member of APHL Emerging Leader Program cohort 10, helped produce and narrated this episode. WSLH Communicable Disease Division Director Dr. Pete Shult was interviewed for the emerging infectious disease portion of the podcast, and Jim Hermanson, WSLH Office of Information Systems, provided expert assistance in recording and editing.

Listen here at http://www.aphlblog.org/2018/05/lab-culture-ep-11-no-public-health-labs/.

The Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene Rabies laboratory was 1 of 14 pilot study sites worldwide for a new rabies test developed at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that could mean people exposed to potentially rabid animals could forego the weeks-long regimen of shots to prevent the deadly disease.

The new test, designed for use in animals, can more easily and precisely diagnose rabies infection, according to a study published in PLOS One. The new LN34 test is simpler and easier to use than current tests. During the pilot study, it produced no false negatives, fewer false positive, and fewer inconclusive results. It could allow doctors and patients to make better informed decisions about who needs treatment for rabies, which is nearly always fatal once symptoms start.

CDC news release about the study — https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2018/p0516-rapid-rabies-test.html

PLOS One journal article – http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0197074

Please note the following changes to the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene’s operations due to the observance of the Memorial Day holiday.

The table below lists the hours of operations for our Clinical Specimen Receiving departments. We will have staffing to accept clinical specimens at both our 2601 Agriculture Drive and our 465 Henry Mall facilities on Saturday, May 26th.

Henry Mall Specimen Receiving will be open on Monday, May 28th, for Newborn Screening Specimens ONLY.

Agriculture Drive Specimen Receiving will be closed. Please see hours of operation below.

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

 

Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene (WSLH) Microbiologist Alyssa Beck explains how the WSLH will begin using environmental DNA (eDNA) to determine the presence of Zebra Mussels and New Zealand Mudsnails in select Wisconsin bodies of water this summer. Both of these invasive aquatic organisms are of concern to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

eDNA methods are less time and resource intensive than traditional field surveys and can be especially useful for screening for invasive or endangered organisms.

Webinar link (plays best in Internet Explorer): https://slhstream2.ad.slh.wisc.edu/Mediasite/Play/20efaea607274f93a03ef8cb4f8a4cdf1d

 

The WSLH’s state and regional influenza surveillance programs were in the news as WisContext produced a wrap-up story on this past flu season.

WisContext is a multimedia service of Wisconsin Public Radio, Wisconsin Public Television and the University of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension.

Story — https://www.wiscontext.org/flus-seasonal-curve-swelled-2017-18

The increase in drugged driving and the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene Forensic Toxicology Lab’s role in that testing were featured in a story by NBC 15 news in Madison.

In 2017, the WSLH tested more than 22,000 blood samples from suspected impaired drivers. All of those samples were tested for alcohol and a sub-set was tested for drugs.

According to WSLH Forensic Toxicology Director Amy Miles, from 2014 to 2017 the WSLH saw roughly a 17% increase in total sample submission and about a 46% increase in drug impaired cases.

Watch the story — http://www.nbc15.com/video?vid=481022021

2018 marks the 100^th anniversary of the 1918 influenza pandemic that caused the deaths of an estimated 675,000 Americans and tens of millions worldwide.

The latest issue of Lab Matters from the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) features an article recounting how far the public health system has come in being able to respond to influenza pandemics – and how far it still needs to go.

The article includes an interview with Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene (WSLH) Communicable Disease Division Director Pete Shult, PhD, and highlights the important work the WSLH performs as 1 of 3 National Influenza Reference Centers (NIRC).

As a NIRC, the WSLH provides influenza virus isolation, antiviral medication resistance, and whole genome sequencing testing services for 17 states, including Wisconsin.

Test result data is provided to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to speed influenza vaccine development and better understand what influenza viruses are circulating and how they may be changing.

Rotating Equipment Repair (RER), a Sussex, WI, company providing high quality repairs, parts, and field service to the high energy pump market, is featured as a “Small Business Success Story” by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA).

The story highlights the collaboration between RER staffers and expert consultants from Wisconsin’s Onsite Safety and Health Consultation Program (WisCon) to improve RER’s safety and health culture, including achieving SHARP status in 2009. RER has maintained continuous SHARP status, with their most recent renewal in 2017.

SHARP stands for Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program and is a recognition program by OSHA and state consultation programs for companies who have excellent health and safety program management systems in place.

Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene (WSLH) Forensic Toxicologist Ted Savage discusses the Dane County Oral Fluid Study.

Objectives of the study were to evaluate the utility of an oral fluid detection system as a tool for law enforcement, the prevalence of people driving under the influence of both alcohol and drugs, the differences between detecting drugs in oral fluid and in whole blood, and the effectiveness of the WSLH drug testing cancellation policy when blood alcohol concentrations (BAC) exceed 0.10 g/100 mL.

Webinar link (plays best in Internet Explorer) – https://slhstream2.ad.slh.wisc.edu/Mediasite/Play/e412bce0c521432c848267b59438688d1d