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Infectious Disease Control of infectious disease is a core function of Public Health (PH). In general, public health laboratories are responsible for identifying and controlling food borne and waterborne outbreaks of disease, surveillance for emerging diseases (e.g., pandemic influenza), and difficult to diagnose diseases such as rabies, West Nile virus, anthrax, and cholera. Quick diagnosis and tracing the source of contamination by the State Public Health Laboratories is critical in saving human lives such as in the recent spinach outbreak of E. coli. Bioterrorism Over the last ten years one of the new major functions of the public health laboratories is to detect bioterrorism events, identify the agent(s) involved, and to help guide the public health response. For this reason, at a national level, the Laboratory Response Network (LRN) was established and includes local and state public health laboratories, federal laboratory partners, food testing laboratories, veterinary diagnostic laboratories, clinical and hospital laboratories, and environmental health laboratories. The Public Health Laboratory Response Network provides a known chain-of-command for reporting results, managing consequences, and sharing data. Role in the Community In addition to diagnoses and investigation of health problems and hazards in the community, public health laboratories provide routine support for disease control programs. PH labs inform, educate, and empower people about health issues at the local and State levels, including genotyping to support the investigation of the spread of diseases. Public health laboratories link people to needed health services; monitor the community health status; search for insights and innovative solutions to health problems; evaluate effectiveness, accessibility, and quality of health services. PH labs strive to assure a competent public health care workforce.
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