Hygiene lab: Testing for anthrax and much more

In 1924, William Stovall, who was then director of the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene, published an article on anthrax in the Wisconsin Medical Journal. Now nearly 80 years later, scientists working in the facility that bears his name are again focused on anthrax.

While Stovall’s concern was contaminated shaving brushes and not biological weapons, his mission was the same as that of his modern-day counterparts — helping protect the health of the public and the environment.

Founded by the Wisconsin Legislature in 1903, the State Laboratory of Hygiene serves as Wisconsin’s official public and environmental health laboratory. It is one of only a handful of state laboratories in the country to be affiliated with the state’s major university rather than the state health department.

Director Ronald Laessig says the lab’s relationship with UW–Madison is one of the primary reasons that the lab is so effective in meeting the state’s public and environmental health goals.

“Our link to the university is key because it expands the state lab’s mission from being solely a “testing laboratory’ to participating in the research and outreach activities of the UW,” says Laessig, a Medical School professor of population health sciences. “We are one of the best examples of the Wisconsin Idea in action.”

The breadth of activities at the lab is wide, affecting virtually every citizen every day in some way. Following are descriptions of some key areas:

Communicable diseases: Peter Shult, the WSLH’s chief virologist and director of its communicable disease division, is the state’s laboratory “point person” for bioterrorism preparedness and response.

Working with state agencies, Shult and colleagues obtained a $5 million-plus federal grant to support enhanced disease surveillance and upgraded laboratory response for biological agents. The money also was used to develop the statewide Internet-based Health Alert Network, which is overseen by Jeff Davis, state epidemiologist and an adjunct professor of population health sciences at Medical School.

Shult and John Pfister, WSLH epidemiologist, have trained Wisconsin’s eight regional Hazardous Materials teams on bioterrorism issues, and training will be expanded to reach county HazMat teams as well as local law enforcement.

Although anthrax testing has received most of the attention lately, the communicable disease division is involved in many other areas of public health importance. These include testing and research in areas of tuberculosis, food-borne outbreaks, respiratory and gastrointestinal viruses, rabies, virus serology (including West Nile virus) and sexually transmitted diseases.

Infant screening: The lab screens 70,000 Wisconsin infants each year for certain inherited disorders within the first week of life. Untreated, these problems can lead to mental retardation, slow growth, blindness, brain damage and death.

Detecting cancer: The WSLH School of Cytotechnology, one of the oldest in the United States, trains students to recognize cellular abnormalities in Pap smears, breast aspirations and body fluids. After graduation, the new cytotechnologists will have little problem finding jobs, and many stay in Wisconsin. Besides training cytotechnologists, the WSLH analyzes about 70,000 Pap smears each year and works with the state to provide Paps for low-income women.

Drug and alcohol analysis: Toxicology staff testified in court 323 times last year, with efforts primarily focused on alcohol and drug analysis in support of state laws that prohibit driving while intoxicated or impaired. Staff testify on lab findings, interpret test results and describe the effects of drugs and alcohol on driving.

Monitoring the environment: From arsenic to PCBs to cryptosporidium to air pollution, the lab’s environmental health division is involved in researching and monitoring most major challenges facing Wisconsin’s environment. And indoor air and occupational health are analyzed by the Wisconsin Occupational Health Laboratory, a department within EHD.

New technology, new diseases and environmental challenges (and some old ones that have reappeared) all will play a part in the WSLH’s future.

“I think the events of the past few months have really shown the general public and the state how important it is to have a public health laboratory with the capability and capacity to anticipate and respond to Wisconsin’s health emergencies,” Laessig says. “But I also want everyone to understand that we are here every day performing specialized tests, doing research, providing data for surveillance or policy making and training others. It’s all to improve and protect the health of Wisconsin’s people and the environment in which they live.”