Infectious Disease
Bacteriology Laboratories
The Bacteriology Laboratories serve as the New York State public health reference laboratory as well as the bioterrorism preparedness and response laboratory. In this capacity, the labs are responsible for the identification of bacterial pathogens of public health significance; the investigation of outbreaks of bacterial disease, including foodborne and waterborne outbreaks; the identification of bacterial agents in possible bioterrorism threat specimens; the continuing education of clinical laboratory personnel; the administration of a proficiency testing program; and applied and basic research.
The diagnostic units of the Bacteriology Laboratories perform the following:
- isolation and identification of all aerobic and anaerobic bacterial pathogens
- biotyping, serogrouping, serotyping and phage typing
- antimicrobial susceptibility testing of aerobic and anaerobic isolates
- toxin testing
- investigation of outbreaks of bacterial disease using both traditional and molecular epidemiological techniques
- PCR for detection and characterization of various bacteria and bacterial toxin genes.
- 16S rRNA sequencing for identification of bacteria
- use of MIDI system for identification of problem organisms
- use of Gideon software for identification of unusual organisms
Investigative projects being conducted include: The development of improved techniques for the recovery of foodborne organisms from implicated foods; characterization of vancomycin resistant Enterococci; identification and characterization of pathogenic mechanisms of Treponema species; and development of PCR-based assays for rapid bacterial typing and identification.
The Laboratories are also actively involved in the New York State Emerging Infections Program (NYSEIP) which is part of a national program funded by CDC to establish and strengthen surveillance for new and emerging infections, conduct research, and develop prevention and control measures. It is a collaborative effort with seven other states, the FDA and the USDA. The Emerging Infections Program (EIP) is comprised of 2 component programs: Foodborne Disease Surveillance Network (FoodNet) and Active Bacterial Core (ABC) surveillance that conduct active laboratory surveillance for 12 bacterial and 2 parasitic infections of foodborne and/or invasive origin.