The Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene’s Bureau of Labor Statistics/Occupational Safety and Health Statistics Program released preliminary data for the 2013 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) indicating a decrease in work-related fatalities from calendar year 2012.
There were 96 work fatalities in 2013 in Wisconsin, down from 114 in 2012.
Wisconsin 2013 CFOI news release 
(NOTE: Post updated on October 6, 2014)
Multiple cases of Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) have been confirmed in Wisconsin.
The first Wisconsin case was confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on September 25th. (Wisconsin Department of Health Services news release).
Up-to-date figures for EV-D68 cases nationwide can be found on the CDC website.
EV-D68 is one of many non-polio enteroviruses and has been rarely isolated in the U.S. in the last 40 years. It has been reported to cause mild to severe respiratory illness, however, the full spectrum of illness is not well-defined. Severe symptoms may include difficulty breathing and wheezing, with asthmatic people at higher risk. The situation is developing rapidly and the CDC is watching and gathering information to better understand the situation. Information and guidance is being posted on the CDC website as it becomes available. The CDC is performing Enterovirus typing specific for EV-D68.
Operating While Intoxicated (OWI) drug testing turnaround time has decreased dramatically at the WSLH Forensic Toxicology Laboratory after implementation of several recommendations from a task force convened by the WSLH, including a Lean Six Sigma process improvement initiative.
So far in 2014, drug testing results are being reported out in 69 days vs. 263 days in 2012. Further decreases in drug testing turnaround times are anticipated and updates will be provided. Alcohol test results continue to be reported out in less than 5 days.
WSLH toxicologists perform approximately 18,000 OWI alcohol tests and 4,000 OWI drug tests annually. Toxicologists also testify in court cases.
In November 2011 the WSLH formed the Task Force on Improving Services from the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene Forensic Toxicology Program to address the trend of increasingly long delays in reporting blood drug results. The task force consisted of a broad spectrum of stakeholders and partners. A final report, issued in July 2012, outlined a strategy to improve efficiency, reduce workload and increase resources to provide more timely results.
August 25, 2014 WSLH Forensic Toxicology Task force on Improving Services UPDATE
Written by: Jan Klawitter, WSLH Public Affairs Manager
Researchers from the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene (WSLH) and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) spent a day in late July collecting sediment and water samples from the Manitowoc River in Manitowoc, WI, as part of a joint research project.
A manufactured gas plant used to be located on the river and the main concerns at the site are polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heavy metals that may have been left behind after the plant closed.
Scientists in the WSLH environmental toxicology laboratory will conduct toxicity tests for both sediment and overlying water (or elutriate) after sediment is mixed with ambient water and settled out. The WSLH will also be conducting inorganic and organic chemical analyses of the sediment and water samples.
The results will be used by the DNR to support the evaluation of sediment quality guidelines, particularly for PAHs.
WSLH Environmental Toxicologist Camille Turcotte scoops up sediment samples for testing.
In late July, more than 30 participants and counselors from the UW-Madison Engineering Summer Program (ESP) toured the WSLH Environmental Health Division laboratories and heard a talk about WSLH water research.
ESP is a six-week residential program for students who will be high school juniors or seniors in the upcoming school year and are interested in majoring in engineering in college. The ESP Program is targeted to high school students from groups traditionally under-represented in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) field. The students come from across the country to attend the program.
This year’s program had a water theme, so the WSLH was contacted about hosting a tour and talk.
The visit was arranged by Jan Klawitter and Dr. Curt Hedman (who also gave the water research talk).
Tour guides in each lab were Camille Turcotte (Environmental Toxicology), Jeremy Olstadt (Water Microbiology), Susan Percy (Radiochemistry), Noel Stanton and Matt Roach (Organic Chemistry and Chemical Emergency Response), Dr. Pat Gorski (Inorganic Chemistry) and DeWayne Kennedy-Parker (Metals).
Feedback from the visit was excellent, and the WSLH may become an annual visit for the ESP program.
Scenes from the visit –
 Looking at water fleas in the WSLH environmental toxicology laboratory. |
 WSLH Inorganic Chemistry Section Director Dr. Pat Gorski talks about inorganic chemistry and trace elements testing and research. |
 WSLH Environmental Microbiologist Jeremy Olstadt explains the coliform bacteria and E. coli testing performed in the WSLH water microbiology laboratory. |
Recent recalls of products because of potential Listeria contamination have led to numerous requests of the WSLH for Listeria culture testing.
The WSLH does not routinely perform primary culture of clinical specimens for Listeria without Wisconsin Division of Public Health (WDPH) approval.
Diagnosis of listeriosis is confirmed only after isolation of Listeria monocytogenes from a normally sterile site, such as blood, spinal fluid (in the setting of nervous system involvement) or amniotic fluid/placenta (in the setting of pregnancy).
According to the CDC, stool samples are of limited use and are not recommended (http://www.cdc.gov/listeria/diagnosis.html).
The CDC has also provided a suggested framework for medical management of persons at elevated risk for invasive listeriosis who were exposed to Listeria monocytogenes.
If a clinician or local health department has additional questions about testing for Listeria or suspects a patient has listeriosis they can contact an epidemiologist at the Wisconsin Division of Public Health (608-267-9003).
The WSLH continues to request submission of ALL Listeria monocytogenes isolates from sterile body sites for surveillance purposes.
Dr. Harry Waisman, namesake of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Waisman Center, was an early champion of screening and treatment of phenylketonuria—a rare, inherited metabolic disorder that can cause severe developmental disabilities if left untreated.
A newborn baby in a hospital nursery.
PKU is one of 44 serious disorders that newborns in Wisconsin are tested for at the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene’s Newborn Screening Laboratory.
This video talks about Dr. Waisman’s early PKU work and features Kay Emerson, the first person successfully treated for PKU in Wisconsin.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are an estimated 430,000 illnesses in the U.S. annually caused by antibiotic-resistant infections from foodborne germs.
CDC recently released data showing both progress and problems from the public health threat of antibiotic-resistant foodborne bacteria.
As part of foodborne disease outbreak response and surveillance in Wisconsin, the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene tests all Salmonella and Shigella bacteria isolates it receives from clinical laboratories for drug resistance. Campylobacter isolates are selectively screened. All these bacteria are isolated from ill patients.
Antibiotic resistance profiles of bacteria can help identify clusters of human illness.
The WSLH shares this data with the Wisconsin Division of Public Health and, if requested, CDC.
The WSLH also participates in the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring Systems (NARMS), a tri-agency surveillance system that tracks antibiotic resistance in humans (CDC), retail meats (Food and Drug Administration) and food animals (U.S. Department of Agriculture).
The WSLH sends every 20th Salmonella and Shigella isolate and every Listeria, Vibrio and Salmonella Typhi isolate to CDC for further characterization as part of NARMS.
Story by: Jan Klawitter, WSLH Public Affairs Manager
On July 2, 2014, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services added, by emergency rule, screening for critical congenital heart disease (CCHD) by pulse oximetry (POX) to the Wisconsin Newborn Screening Program’s panel of conditions. This rule became effective July 3, 2014.
Posted by: Jan Klawitter, WSLH Public Affairs Manager
Philip Wegner and Pa Vang from the WI Division of Public Health TB Program flank Dr. Dave Warshauer, who’s holding his Ed Desmond TB Laboratorian of the Year award.
Wisconsin TB laboratory scientists are on a streak, receiving the National Tuberculosis Controllers Association (NTCA) Ed Desmond Award two years in a row.
WSLH Communicable Disease Division Deputy Director Dr. Dave Warshauer received his award earlier this month at the NTCA annual conference in Atlanta. Last year WSLH TB Program Coordinator Julie Tans-Kersten received the same award.
The Ed Desmond Laboratorian Award is given for “exemplary service, dedication and leadership of a tuberculosis laboratory professional.” The award is named in honor of Dr. Ed Desmond, a distinguished TB laboratorian who is currently a Research Scientist Supervisor in the Microbial Diseases Laboratory of the California Department of Public Health.
Warshauer was nominated for the award both by colleagues nationally and in Wisconsin.
The national Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) nomination cited Warshauer’s multiple terms as chair of their TB subcommittee, authorship on nearly all of APHL’s TB-related publications, trainer at APHL’s regional TB training sessions, and leadership on incorporating new testing technologies and assuring the quality of current ones in TB laboratories nationwide.
Warshauer’s colleagues in the Wisconsin Division of Public Health (WDPH)’s Tuberculosis Program also commended his work with APHL and the impact it has on TB public health laboratory science, practice and policy – now and in the future.
Focusing on Wisconsin, the WDPH nomination praised Warshauer as a scientist and a manager.
From the WDPH nomination:
“Dave has built the Wisconsin public health mycobacteriology laboratory into a superb laboratory, serving as a reference lab for many others, and acting as a hub for Wisconsin laboratory services, data, and education provided to private, clinical and other public health laboratories throughout the state. …
“Dave is not a one-man show; he encourages growth and expertise among his staff, and many of them also are nationally known in their areas of expertise. Development of new tests, validation of existing ones, and meticulous quality control are strong features of his laboratories. His close collaboration with state and local public health agencies ensures that joint guidance for appropriate testing and interpretation of results is always available, whether on an emergent basis for an unknown entity, or when providing routine testing. …
“Through these significant time commitments and exchanges of knowledge, Dave has contributed to the control, prevention and elimination of tuberculosis in Wisconsin and nationally.”
Congratulations Dr. Warshauer!
Story by: Jan Klawitter, WSLH Public Affairs Manager (submitted photo)
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