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.

Please note the following changes to the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene’s operations due to the observance of the July 4th Independence Day holiday.

In observance of the holiday, we will be closed on Thursday, July 4th. We will NOT be receiving specimens on July 4th.

The WSLH Specimen Receiving Department will be open for deliveries as usual on Wednesday, July 3rd and Friday, July 5th.

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

 

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 25th.

Henry Mall Specimen Receiving will be open on Monday, May 27th, 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.

 

The Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene Forensic Toxicology Section and the Wisconsin Department of Health Services are pleased to offer free, regional trainings for Coroners, Medical Examiners, and Partners throughout Wisconsin.

Training will be from 8:30 AM – 3:30 PM at the following locations:

May 21st – GREEN BAY – Hyatt Regency

July 17th – RICE LAKE – Holiday Inn Express & Suites

August 21st – TOMAH – Cranberry Country Lodge

Please see the agenda for more information and please use this link to register online — 2019 Regional Training registration

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact a Toxicology Supervisor at the WSLH: toxsups@slh.wisc.edu

In 2018 more than 300 people in multiple states experienced life-threatening uncontrolled bleeding and 8 people died. The cause – synthetic cannabinoids laced with brodifacoum, a very potent rat poison.

The Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene’s response to this outbreak and the development of a quantitative test by WSLH Chemical Emergency Response Unit Chemists Bill Krick and Erin Meinholz is the focus of a “Lab Culture” podcast from the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL).

Listen here — http://www.aphlblog.org/lab-culture-extra-wisconsin-state-lab-developed-test-brodifacoum-matters/

More information about this event – Webinar: Fake Dope and Rat Poison – Bleeding Disorders Associated with the use of Synthetic Marijuana in WI