The collaborative nature of public health was on display at the WSLH Newborn Screening Laboratory in October as Dr. Ellen Stevens from the North Carolina Public Health Laboratory (NCPHL) spent a week learning the next-generation sequencing assay the WSLH performs for cystic fibrosis (CF) screening.

Last year the vendor that produced the type of assay the North Carolina lab was using for CF screening testing decided to remove it from the market due to quality issues. NCPHL needed help quickly to continue CF screening and the WSLH stepped up since we use the next-generation sequencing method and weren’t affected. Dr. Stevens’ Wisconsin visit was to learn this testing method and reporting process to help NCPHL establish it in-house.

According to WSLH Newborn Screening Laboratory Co-Director Dr. Mei Baker, the Wisconsin and North Carolina newborn screening programs have worked together for many years.

“Our helping them this past year is just a continuation of our long-time collaboration,” Dr. Baker said.

“Mei and the WSLH staff have been amazing at helping us get going on next-gen sequencing for CF,” Dr. Stevens notes. “Public health is all about helping each other to help people.”

Dr. Stevens is the current APHL-Ronald H. Laessig Newborn Screening Fellow.

Dr. Laessig was WSLH Director from 1980–2006 and a national leader in newborn screening. After his death in 2009, the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) created the fellowship in his honor.

WSLH Newborn Screening Laboratory Co-Director Dr. Patrice Held was the first Laessig fellow.

 

 

Scientists from NeoGen Labs in Bangalore, India, spent a week in September at the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene (WSLH) Newborn Screening Laboratory learning about Wisconsin’s testing and reporting processes.

NeoGen scientists Dr. Ruby Poickaranparambil Babu, consultant biochemist, and Aggunda Channa Poornima, senior manager for laboratory operations, came to Wisconsin to learn about validating test assays and determining result cutoffs, routine testing workflow, troubleshooting, quality control, and assay result interpretation and reporting.

“We hope to increase the scope of tests we offer in India and the Wisconsin newborn screening lab is the standard we want to compare ourselves to,” explains Dr. Babu. “The Wisconsin newborn screening lab is known internationally and we came to learn about processes we could implement in our lab to help us improve.”

NeoGen has been performing newborn screening in India for 10 years. Currently, the lab screens between 25,000 – 30,000 babies a year for 57 disorders.

The scientific information exchange was very productive according to Poornima.

“We’ve learned a lot and want to take back some of these best practices.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene (WSLH) Communicable Disease Division Director Dr. Peter Shult gave a talk on emerging infectious diseases at the Wisconsin Hospital Association’s Emergency Preparedness Conference on Sept. 20^th.

In addition to discussing infectious disease threats, Dr. Shult also highlighted the vital role that Wisconsin’s clinical and hospital laboratories play in emergency response and disease surveillance. The WSLH coordinates the 130+ member Wisconsin Clinical Laboratory Network (WCLN).

Video of Dr. Shult’s talk — https://youtu.be/nsczEyUrpcU

The WisCon Onsite Safety and Health Consultation Program helps small businesses in Wisconsin provide safe and healthy workplaces for their employees. The OSHA-funded program is free for the business and WisCon assists about 300 businesses each year, influencing the working conditions of about 10,000 employees.

During fiscal year 2016, WisCon consultants identified and verified correction of more than 2,100 workplace safety and health hazards and performed more workplace exposure sampling than any other OSHA consultation program in the nation.

In this webinar WisCon Industrial Hygiene Supervisor Ernie Stracener explains how WisCon consultants – via the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene and University of Wisconsin-Madison – help small businesses and their employees throughout Wisconsin.

https://slhstream2.ad.slh.wisc.edu/Mediasite/Play/606c26d02c0b4a55a4daad5aee1c81d81d

On August 1 – 2, 2017, the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene (WSLH) hosted laboratorians and epidemiologists from five Midwest states and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as well as program staff from the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL), for the first annual Antibiotic Resistance Laboratory Network (ARLN) Midwest Regional Meeting. The event was held at the Fluno Center in Madison, Wisconsin.

The ARLN is a national network of public health laboratories and epidemiologists that are working closely with CDC, other public health laboratories within their region, and clinical laboratories within their respective states to detect, control and prevent transmission of highly antibiotic resistant organisms, such as Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) and those organisms with novel mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance.

The Midwest region of the ARLN includes Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin. The Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene is the regional ARLN reference laboratory.

Since ARLN is a new network and states are at different stages of test implementation, it was decided for the first annual Midwest Regional ARLN Meeting to provide more time for discussion and collaboration among laboratorians and epidemiologists, rather than focus on hands-on laboratory training or demonstrations. Prior to the Midwest Regional Meeting, the WSLH hosted public health microbiologists from two states within the region and provided hands-on training and demonstrations of susceptibility and phenotypic testing.

Speakers and topics included:

Wisconsin

Scientists from the WSLH (David Warshauer, PhD, Erin Bowles and Mary Wedig) and epidemiologists from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services  (Megan Lasure, MPH, Rachel Klos, DVM, and Lina Elbadawi, MD):

• Provided an update on the ARLN program
• Demonstrated the online specimen information submission portal that has been developed
• Highlighted statewide (WI) and regional surveillance activities and information sharing with regional partners about the Wisconsin Clinical Laboratory Network (WCLN)

Ray Podzorski, PhD, with SSM Health-Madison, shared his view on the intersection of clinical and public health microbiology.

Erik Munson, PhD, with Marquette University, presented data on the antimicrobial resistance surveillance activities he is leading in Wisconsin.

Indiana

Sara Blosser, PhD, with the Indiana State Department of Health, discussed Indiana’s experience with statewide testing for and controlling Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae.

Illinois

Sarah Kemble, MD, with the Chicago Department of Health, reviewed an investigation of an outbreak of Verona Integron-encoded Metallo-beta-lactamase (VIM)-producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa at a skilled nursing facility in Chicago, Illinois.

Future Activities

In the coming year, ARLN Laboratory Coordinator Ann Valley and ARLN Laboratory-based Epidemiologist Megan Lasure plan on performing site visits at each of the public health laboratories within the ARLN Midwest region to view and discuss with each state their ARLN program activities. The goal of the site visits is to not only ensure standardization of ARLN testing approaches in each state, but also learn about state-specific successes and share them with all laboratories in the region and CDC to further strengthen the regional and national ARLN network.

In addition, the WSLH will also begin quarterly conference calls with laboratorians and epidemiologists within the region to discuss progress with test implementation, surveillance activities and outreach strategies associated with the ARLN program.

ARLN activities at the WSLH will continue to expand with the addition of identification and detection of targeted Candida species – an emerging multi-drug resistant public health threat. The WSLH also will begin implementing Streptococcus pneumoniae serotyping and antibiotic resistance testing as one of two national S. pneumoniae ARLN reference centers.

The feedback the WSLH received from participants that attended the first Midwest region ARLN Meeting was overwhelmingly positive. The WSLH looks forward to hosting the next Midwest region ARLN meeting in summer 2018, with topics of discussion to be determined during regional conference calls and consultation with CDC ARLN program staff.

The first year of the ARLN network has been a great success in Wisconsin, the Midwest region and nationally. The WSLH looks forward to continued participation in this national network, especially working with the other partner laboratories and public health departments in the Midwest region and the clinical laboratories within the WCLN, in order to aid in the detection and prevention of antimicrobial resistance of public health significance.

For more information on the ARLN program visit:  https://www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/solutions-initiative/ar-lab-networks.html

Three WSLH staffers have been added to the Pringle Award Roll of Honor by University of Wisconsin-Madison University Staff Shared Governance.

Shannon Kelly in WSLH Proficiency Testing, Shauna Minick in Forensic Toxicology and Katy Penland in Newborn Screening were all nominated for the Elizabeth S. Pringle Award.

Ms. Pringle worked for retired UW-Madison Professor Joel Margolis. He made a generous donation to award a university staff office support employee in honor of his assistant Ms. Pringle.

The award winner was selected by members of the Congressional University Staff Awards Selection Committee and will be announced this fall.

Nominees who did not receive the award were added to the Roll of Honor in recognition of their exemplary work.

Congratulations Shannon, Shauna and Katy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Concerns about deaths occurring near manure storage and handling systems led University of Wisconsin-Madison and University of Wisconsin-Extension Cooperative Extension scientists to develop a publication about “Reducing Risks from Manure Storage Agitation Gases.”

The authors led by UW Biological Systems Engineering Assistant Professor Rebecca Larson and including Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene Director and UW Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor Jamie Schauer, note:

The publication can be found on the UW-Extension Learning Store website at https://learningstore.uwex.edu/Reducing-Risks-from-Manure-Storage-Agitation-Gases-P1865.aspx

The Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene (WSLH) Specimen Receiving Departments will be open for deliveries on Saturday, September 2nd, as usual.

In observance of the Labor Day holiday, all WSLH units EXCEPT NEWBORN SCREENING will be closed on Monday, September 4th. Please see hours of operation by location below.

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

 

 

UW Cytogenetic Services and Molecular Genetics is now offering a chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) for hematological malignancies

CMA analysis provides a high resolution, genome-wide assessment of copy number variants (gains and losses) and copy neutral loss of heterozygosity (cn-LOH) recurrent in hematological malignancies.

CMA is recommended for individuals with a new diagnosis or suspected diagnosis of a hematological disease, or individuals with relapsed disease. The results are intended for use by the physician to further refine diagnoses, offer more accurate prognostic assessments and select optimal treatments.

CMA can reveal additional genomic imbalances not detectable by chromosomes or FISH and increase the diagnostic yield for a clonal marker from 50% to approximately 80% in myeloid malignancies.

Contact UW Cytogenetic Services and Molecular Genetics at 608-262-0402 for more information.

Information for Medical Providers 

Two Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene (WSLH) scientists – Erin Bowles MT (ASCP) and Dr. Dave Warshauer, PhD, D(ABMM) – were honored at the recent Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) annual meeting in Providence, RI.

Bowles, the Wisconsin Clinical Laboratory Network (WCLN) coordinator and co-biosafety officer at the WSLH, received the Emerging Leader Award. This award honors an individual whose leadership has been instrumental in one or more advances in laboratory science, practice, management, policy or education within his or her first five to ten years in the public health laboratory profession.

Bowles serves on APHL’s Sentinel Laboratories Training Collective Workgroup and the Sentinel Laboratories Partnership and Outreach Subcommittee. Sentinel laboratories are hospital and clinical laboratories that oftentimes are the first to recognize unusual infections or outbreaks and can alert public health officials. Bowles has been a leader in the development of national sentinel laboratory and biosafety guidelines.

The WSLH is a national leader for our work in building and maintaining collaborative networks with Wisconsin’s 130+ hospital and clinical sentinel laboratories.

Warshauer, deputy director of the WSLH Communicable Disease Division, received the Silver Award, which honors a laboratorian with roughly 10 to 15 years of service in a governmental public health laboratory who is recognized as a leader both within their home laboratory as well as external to their laboratory.

Warshauer is an active member of APHL’s infectious disease committee, biosafety and biosecurity committee, chairman of the tuberculosis (TB) subcommittee, and a frequent collaborator with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) scientists. He also has served on CDC workgroups to develop recommendations and guidelines for the use of laboratory tests to aid in the diagnosis of TB.

Both Bowles and Warshauer worked in hospital and clinical laboratories in Wisconsin before joining the WSLH.