Tracing the isotopic signature of lead (Pb) in both an adult who had bullet fragments embedded in his leg for 10 years and his young child who also had elevated blood lead levels (BLL) is the subject of a recent paper in Biological Trace Element Research.

The paper is the first resulting from isotopic analyses performed on the Multicollector Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer (MC-ICPMS) in the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene Trace Elements Clean Lab. The case is novel in that the MC-ICPMS was used for testing both clinical and environmental samples. The technology has been used for environmental testing for several years, but using it to test clinical specimens is still quite rare.

The article highlights the power of MC-ICPMS technology to determine isotopic signatures for environmental source tracking in public health.

Read the article here — http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12011-016-0872-3

 

According to estimates from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII), there were 78,800 total injuries and illnesses reported by Wisconsin employers in 2015, which occurred at a rate of 3.6 cases per 100 equivalent full-time workers. This is a decline from 4.0 in 2013 and 2014.  Nationwide, the total injury and illness case rate declined from 3.4 to 3.3 per 100 full-time workers.

Background:     

SOII is the largest work injury data survey conducted nationwide. The Wisconsin Bureau of Labor Statistics program collects data annually from a representative sample of 6,000 establishments, with a 97% survey response rate.

Key findings:*

• Private industry incident rates fell from 3.9 to 3.6. State and local government total injury rate decreased from 4.7 cases per 100 full time workers to 4.2. (see chart 1).
• All general industry sectors (excl. information) show a decline in total injury rates from the prior year. (see chart 2).
• An equal proportion of worker injuries required time off or job restrictions to recuperate (39,600) and other recordable injuries which required medical treatment only (39,200).
• Public sector sub-industries with the highest injury rates include: State nursing and residential care facilities (15.7), Local transit and ground passenger transportation (8.0), and Local heavy and civil engineering (6.6). (see chart 3).
• Private sector sub-industries with the highest injury rates include: Couriers and messengers (9.7), Nonmetallic mineral manufacturing (7.9), Wood product manufacturing (7.1), Nursing and residential care facilities (6.9), Primary metal manufacturing (6.8), and Fabricated metal manufacturing (6.6).

*For charts and tables of Wisconsin data, go to www.slh.wisc.edu/bls. Data for case circumstances and worker characteristics will be available online mid-November.

The Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene, a part of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is the state’s public, environmental and occupational health laboratory. The WSLH’s Bureau of Labor Statistics/Occupational Safety and Health Statistics Unit have a cooperative agreement with the US Bureau of Labor Statistics to conduct their annual Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses and Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries in Wisconsin.

Did you know the 2^nd leading cause of lung cancer is an odorless, colorless, radioactive gas?

It’s called radon and it can be found in up to 10% of the homes in Wisconsin at levels above the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guideline.

And the only way to find it is to test for it.

October 17-25 is Radon Awareness Week and homeowners interested in testing their homes for radon have many options.

The Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene offers radon testing.

Homeowners can also contact Radon Information Centers or certified radon measurement contractors for testing or buy a test kit at a hardware store.

For more information on radon, health concerns, and a list certified radon reduction contractors, please see the WI Division of Health Services radon website at lowradon.org.

 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has designated the WSLH Communicable Disease Division (WSLH CDD) an Antibiotic Resistance (AR) Regional Lab for the Midwest Region.

The WSLH is just 1 of 7 AR Regional Labs nationwide and will provide testing for Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky.

 

According to the CDC, antibiotic resistance in the United States:

• Sickens >2 million people per year
• Kills at least 23,000 people each year + 15,000 each year from C. difficile
• >$20B/year in healthcare costs
• Threatens modern medicine – If we lose antibiotics, we lose the ability to treat patients with sepsis, cancer, provide organ transplants, and save victims of burns and trauma
• Need to act now or even drugs of last resort will soon be ineffective

Part of the CDC’s AR Lab Network, the 7 AR Regional Labs are a critical component in building comprehensive laboratory capacity to detect and better characterize antibiotic-resistant pathogens. These labs will implement a regional approach to generate real-time, actionable data to prevent and combat AR threats.

All regional labs will perform core testing for their region, including:

• Molecular testing to detect colonization of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE)
• Threat assessments, special threat assessments by request on new or known threats like MRSA, VRE, and VRSA
• Isolate collection for use in CDC’s AR Isolate Bank and whole genome sequencing projects

In addition, the WSLH will perform testing for:

• Reflex Culture pilot with Salmonella and Entertoxigenic E. coli
• Antimicrobial susceptibility and serotyping of multidrug-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae

WSLH CDD is also a CDC Reference Center for influenza surveillance, vaccine-preventable diseases, and foodborne/enteric diseases.

 

The Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene’s (WSLH) early history is recounted in an article in the summer 2016 issue of the Wisconsin Magazine of History.

The article focuses on how changing beliefs about water and public health influenced the founding of the state’s public health laboratory at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1903.

For more than 100 years, WSLH scientists and staff have worked to protect the people and environment of Wisconsin – putting the Wisconsin Idea into action every day.

 

 

 

 

By Dr. Pat Gorski, WSLH Environmental Health Division

As a member of the American Water Works Association (AWWA), I have long noticed that the Wisconsin chapter has a committee — Wisconsin Water for the World — that works to provide resources for safe drinking water and improved sanitation to people in developing communities throughout the world.

This past March, my wife Madeline and I finally decided to go on one of their service trips to a rural village in Guatemala (Tzay), which is near the city of Solola. WSLH retiree Archie Degnan also went on the trip. Our team also consisted of Rotary members from Kenosha, WI, and Florida. Although the team was there for two weeks, Madeline and I only went for the final week.

The project would not have been possible without prior work done by the village, which was coordinated by Lynn Roberts, an American who lives in Guatemala full-time, and a local engineer. We also greatly benefited by having two local interpreters, Leo and Jose, who spoke English, Spanish and the local Mayan dialect (K’iche’, or called “Ketchikan”).

This specific project collected spring water at the base of a hill into a large storage tank and then pumped it up to the top of a hill into a second large storage tank, which then gravity-fed the water to roughly 50 households. Typically, the village does not have dependable drinking water availability (only 30 minutes per day on average); therefore drinking water has to be physically hauled daily from the spring up to each house.

The storage tanks had to be built on-site with concrete and rebar, as well as concrete platforms for the household wash basins, which serve as the sole source of water for each house. All the trenches for piping had to be dug by hand, as well as connecting and laying the PVC pipe.

The project provided clean dependable drinking water for the village, but also proper drainage for used waste water. I was able to do on-site confirmatory testing of the drinking water for nitrate, coliform and E.coli bacteria.

The work was very satisfying and we felt much appreciated by the villagers, especially the kids, although we couldn’t speak much Spanish. It was a great reality adjustment to see how a large portion of the world lives and experience first-hand that not everyone can easily turn on a tap to get instantaneous drinking water.

The implementation team was a great group of people to work with. We definitely had to be very flexible in our daily expectations, but we successfully had water flowing to the taps by the end of the trip, followed by the entire village turning out for a wonderful celebration.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of the 65,000 babies born in Wisconsin each year, about 135 will have one of the 44 rare, serious disorders screened for by the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene Newborn Screening Laboratory.

The stories of some of those babies are shared in our Family Stories section.

Read all about them at https://www.slh.wisc.edu/clinical/newborn/family-stories/

Powassan virus (POWV) and Jamestown Canyon virus (JCV) have been added to the WSLH Arbovirus IgM Antibody Panel. This panel already includes testing for West Nile virus, La Crosse virus, Eastern equine encephalitis virus, and St. Louis encephalitis virus IgM antibodies. The test panel uses a qualitative IgM capture ELISA to detect antibodies against these viruses.

Powassan virus (POWV) – In Wisconsin, POWV is a rare tick-borne infection transmitted by the bite of infected deer/black-legged ticks (Ixodes scapularis).  The first case of POWV was identified in Wisconsin in 2003. Only a handful of POWV cases are reported each year, but the disease is likely underreported because of the lack of routine laboratory testing. In 2013, 5 cases of POWV were identified, with 3 of those being neuro-invasive disease. Signs and symptoms include acute onset of fever, muscle weakness, confusion, headache, nausea, vomiting, and stiff neck.  Severe illness can include confusion, paralysis, speech difficulties, memory loss, and meningoencephalitis.

Jamestown Canyon virus (JCV) – JCV was first recognized as causing human illness in 1980 and rarely has been reported in Wisconsin. However, like POWV it is likely underreported because of the unavailability of laboratory tests to detect infection. In 2013, 22 cases were reported in the United States. JCV is a member of the California serogroup viruses that includes the mosquito-borne viruses California encephalitis, Keystone, La Crosse, snowshoe hare and trivittatus.  Initial symptoms of illness may include fever, headache, nausea, vomiting, and fatigue. Severe symptoms often involve encephalitis and can include seizures, coma, and paralysis.

Diagnostic Testing

• Arborvirus IgM Antibody Panel: Test Code SS02201
• Methodology: Qualitative IgM capture ELISA for JCV, POWV, EEE and LAC;  Microsphere immunoassay (MIA) for WNV/SLE
• Specimen Types: Serum, 1-3 ml; Both serum and CSF, minimum 500 ul, for patients with possible encephalitis
• Specimen Handling: Specimens must be stored and transported to the lab at 2-8C (refrigerated with cool packs)
• Turn-around Time: One week
• Results: Negative, Presumptive Positive or Nonspecific for MIA.  Numeric value and interpretation as Negative, Equivocal, Presumptive Positive, or Uninterpretable for IgM capture ELISA
• CPT Codes: 86651, 86652, 86653, 86788, 86790 x 3
• Price: $425

June 1, 2016 Announcement Memo

Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) health officials announced on May 18, 2016, a Wisconsin resident has a confirmed case of Zika virus infection. The individual who tested positive is a woman who recently traveled to Honduras, where Zika-infected mosquitoes are present. Testing was performed at the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene. As of May 18, 2016, there have been no locally-acquired cases of Zika virus infection in Wisconsin or in the continental United States.

DHS news release

WSLH Zika virus testing information

University of Wisconsin-Madison and WSLH Cytotechnology Certificate Program Director Michele Smith received the 2016 President’s Award from the American Society for Cytotechnology (ASCT) for both her exceptional service to ASCT and to the field of cytotechnology.

Michele has served as ASCT Program Chair for several years and became the 2016-2017 ASCT President at the April conference where she also received her award from outgoing ASCT President Catherine Smith (no relation).

The ASCT President’s Award was established in 1991 and is presented to an outstanding member of the ASCT by the president in recognition of outstanding service.