The mission of the Wyoming Public Health Preparedness Laboratory is to support public health, public safety, and emergency response by maintaining the capability to quickly respond to biological, chemical and radiological threats. In order to accomplish its mission, the Preparedness Laboratory provides specialized testing for high priority pathogens, facilitates testing for chemical and radiological hazards, and works to keep Wyoming clinical laboratories prepared through timely communications and laboratory related trainings.
The Public Health Preparedness Laboratory (PL) operates within the Wyoming Public Health Laboratory (WPHL). The PL is a member of the National Laboratory Response Network (LRN) and works with clinical laboratories in the state to establish statewide laboratory response capability.
The PL is regulated by The Clinical Laboratory Improvements Amendments, or CLIA. The PL adheres to the Select Agent rule but is not regulated by the federal program. Within the LRN The PL serves the state as a confirmatory laboratory for agents of bioterrorism (BT) that cause diseases in both animals and humans. Many of these diseases can spread quite readily on their own and do not require any microbiological manipulation or weaponization to make them effective agents for terrorism. These organisms can infect free ranging or zoo-confined wild animals, as well as man & domestic animals.
Several potential bioterrorism agents are endemic in Wyoming’s wildlife, requiring differentiation between naturally occurring disease and an intentional release. Rapid identification of a suspect bioterrorism agent is essential to provide valuable information for patient treatment. The PL tests samples that support criminal investigations in order to ensure safety measures are implemented to protect human & animal health and safety.
The PHPL is a member of the LRN which is overseen by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Through this affiliation the PHPL ensures the most consistent, highest quality testing protocols for bioterrorism agents. Testing is available for use with human and environmental specimens for the citizens of the State of Wyoming.
Response Protocols for Clinical Laboratories
Chemical Exposure Response Plan
Public Health Preparedness Laboratory Chemical Exposure Response Plan
The Wyoming Public Health Laboratory Public Health Preparedness Laboratory Chemical Exposure Response Plan offers assistance to healthcare providers for treating victims of chemical exposures. Services are provided in the form of laboratory analyses of clinical samples and resources for diagnosing and treating victims of toxic chemical exposures.
This web page provides links to other websites that contain information about diagnosing and treating victims of chemical exposures.
Resources
Wyoming’s Laboratory Response Network
Wyoming Public Health Preparedness Laboratory (PHPL) Program has designed, developed and implemented a comprehensive statewide laboratory response program that provides Wyoming with the infrastructure necessary to respond to bioterrorism threats and emerging infectious diseases.
Sentinel Laboratories
Sentinel clinical laboratories, which include all local medical laboratories that perform bacteriology, in the state have been identified, assessed, provided training and resources for participation in Wyoming’s Laboratory Response Network. Laboratories that meet the following criteria are considered to be a part of the sentinel level of Wyoming’s LRN: 1) Located within Wyoming State, 2) Operating as a clinical laboratory with CLIA certification, 3) Perform basic microbiological culturing and organism testing on specimens and isolates recovered from humans, as associated with sentinel laboratory activities within the Laboratory Response Network.
Confirmatory Laboratories
At the confirmatory laboratory level, the PHPL coordinates with the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory, the Wyoming Game & Fish Wildlife Disease Laboratory and the Department of Agriculture, Analytical Services Laboratory to develop a laboratory network that is prepared for multiple potential terrorist events. In Wyoming many of the bioterrorism agents of most interest are endemic in some Wyoming wildlife species; laboratory cooperation and coordination are necessary to prepare for a potential bioterrorism threat in our state.
WPHL’s Preparedness Laboratory
The Preparedness Laboratory is the only biosafety level 3 laboratory in the state that is CLIA regulated and capable of performing confirmatory testing for bioterrorism agents in humans.
The lab is a member of the National Laboratory Response Network and has implemented rapid molecular technologies including: Time-Resolved Fluorescence (TRF), DNA sequencing and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). Through these technologies the lab has the capacity for rapid confirmatory testing of the agents that cause anthrax, plague, tularemia, brucellosis, chickenpox, vaccinia and other emerging infectious diseases.
The laboratory response program model ensures consistent, quality testing procedures and a defined surge capacity for any disease outbreak and enhances the WPHL’s ability to respond to emerging infectious diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome and Ebola.