Laboratory Capacity to Handle Health Threats
Laboratory Capacity to Handle Health Threats [PDF - 575KB]
America’s public health laboratories are the key first line of defense against disease and environmental threats.
- CDC supports public health laboratories by ensuring quality of testing, and program–specific laboratory science and practice.
- CDC provides technical expertise to public health and clinical laboratories across the U.S. and to ministries of health throughout the world.
- CDC has laboratories and supports other U.S. and global laboratories to identify diseases, foodborne outbreaks, and biosecurity threats; protect U.S. blood supply; screen for genetic and other health risk factors; monitor health of communities, identify environmental hazards and more.
CDC’s impact on laboratory science
- Key partner in establishing the Laboratory Response Network to respond to biological and chemical terrorism.
- Coordinator of the PulseNet network of laboratories that detects foodborne Illnesses.
- Coordinator of the National Laboratory Training Network, which has trained more than 200,000 public health and clinical laboratory professionals.
- Identifies and stops outbreaks of contaminated food, most recently, salmonella–tainted turkey in 40 states.
- Key partner in establishing African Society for Laboratory medicine to advance science and practice.
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TTY: (888) 232-6348 - cdcinfo@cdc.gov