The Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene will be closed on Thursday, November 28, for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Our Specimen Receiving departments will observe the following hours of operation for the Thanksgiving holiday:

 

 

 

The Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene (WSLH) and the UW Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology are pleased to sponsor a talk by Jean Patel, PhD, D(ABMM) a highly respected expert in drug resistance.

Dr. Patel’s work at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) implementing the Antimicrobial Resistance Laboratory Network has greatly enhanced national capacity to monitor and detect antimicrobial resistance. Dr. Patel has chaired the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) Subcommittee for Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing and works with the World Health Organization to strengthen global surveillance of antimicrobial resistance. Dr. Patel currently works in Principal Scientific Affairs, Microbiology at Beckman Coulter Diagnostics.

Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria: A Treatment Forecast

Speaker: Jean Patel, PhD, D(ABMM), Principal Scientific Affairs, Microbiology at Beckman Coulter Diagnostics

Date/Time: Friday, November 22, 2019, from Noon-1 PM

Location: Room 1520, Microbial Sciences Building, 1550 Linden Drive

 

The WSLH Communicable Disease Division received the top score amongst laboratories vying for renewal of National Influenza Reference Center (NIRC) status and funding.

As top scorer, the WSLH will be the sole national influenza reference center in the summer, as well as one of three during influenza season.

One of the reviewers commented on the WSLH renewal proposal, “An exceptional application overall with key strengths across all categories, little to no weaknesses.”

NIRCs are funded by the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL), in cooperation with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Influenza Division (ID), to support national influenza surveillance initiatives. NIRCs serve as an extension of the CDC ID Virology Surveillance and Diagnosis Branch (VSDB) and provide services that are complementary to those at CDC based on methods and protocols provided by APHL and CDC. Services provided by the reference centers include: 1) influenza virus isolation and propagation; 2) antiviral resistance testing; and 3) genomic sequencing using next generation sequencing (NGS).

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel recently published an article about Dr. James DeLine’s work with Amish communities in Wisconsin.

The Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene Genetics and Newborn Screening departments were featured in a follow-up article from the University of Wisconsin-Madison on how UW-Madison and the Wisconsin Partnership Program are helping Dr. DeLine’s efforts.

UW-Madison article – 21st century medicine helps Amish deal with rare, inherited illnesses

As a member of the national Laboratory Response Network, Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene (WSLH) scientists work closely with the Type I, II and III State Asset HazMat Teams and serve as a testing and support resource in situations involving unknown substances or credible threats.

In the Fall 2019 issue of WI Fire Chief, a publication of the Wisconsin State Fire Chiefs’ Association, WSLH Chemical Emergency Response Program Supervisor Meshel Lange explains the importance of this years-long collaboration and its role in helping protect Wisconsinites.

HAZMAT PARTNERSHIPS – THE WISCONSIN STATE LABORATORY OF HYGIENE (Article linked with permission of the Wisconsin State Fire Chiefs’ Association)

Starting 11/11/19, the WSLH Communicable Disease Division will discontinue performing rapidly growing mycobacteria susceptibility testing (test code MM00207).

Requests for rapid grower susceptibility testing will be sent out to National Jewish Health – https://www.nationaljewish.org/for-professionals/diagnostic-testing/adx/our-laboratories/mycobacteriology/ast-ntm-aerobic-actinomycetes

If you choose to have us forward an isolate to National Jewish for testing, you will be charged a $90.00 handling and shipping fee.

WSLH will continue to offer culture, PCR, and identification for all mycobacteria, as well as drug susceptibility testing for M. avium complex (MAC) and M. tuberculosis.

Please see attached memo for more information.

Excerpted from an October 10, 2019, message sent to Wisconsin healthcare providers by the Wisconsin Division of Public Health’s Bureau of Environmental and Occupational Health

Since July 2019, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) and local health departments have been investigating an outbreak of lung injury associated with recent e-cigarette use, or vaping.

We encourage health care providers to remain alert for patients with possible vaping-associated lung injury. Please continue to report vaping-associated lung injury to your local health department so that we can investigate these cases and work to prevent future illnesses. If your hospital or lab has clinical specimens for patients with possible vaping-associated lung injury, including bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, lung tissue, blood, or urine, please encourage your clinical laboratory to send them to the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene (WSLH) for further testing.

We have updated our dedicated vaping-associated lung injury webpage with tools for health care and lab professionals. You will find:

• Clinical fact sheet for vaping-associated lung injury
• Instructions for reporting cases along with a case report form and patient questionnaire
• Instructions for submitting clinical specimens to WSLH

We thank you for your ongoing support and work in this outbreak. Please contact DHS at 608-266-1120 or visit our webpage (https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/outbreaks/vaping.htm) for additional information.

 

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) has added, by emergency rule, screening for Carnitine Palmitoyltransferase 1A deficiency (CPT1A) and Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) to the Wisconsin Newborn Screening Program’s panel of conditions. This rule will go into effect once it is published in the Wisconsin State Journal, which is expected to occur on October 15, 2019. Every infant born in a hospital is required to have CPT1A and SMA screening prior to discharge.Babies born out of hospital are also required to be screened.

For more important information on this rule please see the following links:

WI-DHS & WSLH Joint Letter

Fact Sheet for Physicians

Letter for Parents

The Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene (WSLH) Specimen Receiving Departments will be open for deliveries on Saturday, August 31st, as usual.

Henry Mall Specimen Receiving will be open on Monday, September 2nd, for Newborn Screening Specimens ONLY.

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

As always, if there is an emergency, please call the WSLH Emergency Answering Service at 608-263-3280.

 

 

For more than a year, Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene Director and University of Wisconsin-Madison Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor Jamie Schauer has served as a U.S. Science Envoy for Air Quality on behalf of the U.S. State Department.

During the week of July 23, 2019, Dr. Schauer is in Dhaka, Bangladesh, meeting with government, non-governmental organization, and industry officials, as well as giving a public lecture at Dhaka University.

His trip has received significant media attention.

United News of Bangladesh – https://www.unb.com.bd/category/Bangladesh/us-envoy-for-integration-of-air-quality-solutions-with-sdgs/24461

Daily Star – https://www.thedailystar.net/city/news/air-quality-can-be-managed-without-compromising-economic-growth-1776742

Dhaka Tribune – https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/dhaka/2019/07/25/us-expert-for-better-technology-to-reduce-air-pollution-in-bangladesh

BD News 24 – https://m.bdnews24.com/amp/en/detail/environment/1647422

U.S. Science Envoys engage internationally at the citizen and government levels to enhance relationships between other nations and the United States, develop partnerships, and improve collaboration. Science Envoys leverage their international leadership, influence, and expertise in priority countries to advance solutions to shared science and technology challenges. Science Envoys travel as private citizens and help inform the Department of State, a variety of U.S. government agencies, and the scientific community about opportunities for science and technology cooperation.

As a Science Envoy for Air Quality, Schauer highlights American scientific strategies and technologies for mitigating poor air quality, with a focus on South Asia.