White-nose syndrome, first identified in the US in New York during the winter of 2006-2007 has killed millions of North American bats, and as of May 2016, has been confirmed in 29 states and 5 Canadian territories.Threatened and endangered bat species alike are affected. In some locations, the little brown bat population is 10% of what it was before white-nose syndrome.

Considering that the number of mumps cases per year has decreased by more than 99% since the introduction of vaccines against the disease, it is relatively rare these days to hear about a mumps outbreak. But that is just what has happened this summer as more than 45 in the Nassau County city of Long Beach became ill. What makes this outbreak so surprising is that this population has a high vaccination rate.

In Albany, as in many places, August is the time when college students start back to school. But this August 17th at the Wadsworth Center, the Master of Science in Laboratory Sciences students are just finishing.As the only master’s degree program sponsored by a public health laboratory, students are immersed in the business of public health, from the policy, regulations and standards, to the research that goes into developing diagnostic tests and the testing of clinical and environmental specimens.

On August 3, 2016 New York State Commissioner of Health Dr. Howard A. Zucker announced the Wadsworth Center has been awarded $1.8 million to serve as one of seven labs in the nation designated as an Antimicrobial Resistance (AR) Regional Laboratory. These laboratories, strategically placed across the country, will have specialized capabilities allowing rapid detection and identification of emerging antibiotic resistant threats.

WASHINGTON – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention designated Albany's Wadsworth Laboratory as one of seven regional labs to tackle the growing threat of antibiotic resistance.  Read More at The Times Union.

Earlier this year, the Wadsworth Center became the first and only state public health laboratory in the nation to perform whole genome sequencing (WGS) of tuberculosis (TB) specimens. One case illustrates the enormous impact of WGS on TB testing and its central role in rapidly detecting and preventing the spread of drug-resistant TB strains among New York State’s general population.

Twenty-four years at the Wadsworth Center have given Keith Derbyshire, Ph.D., a career’s worth of MEMOs. Not the interoffice paper shuffle made obsolete by email and text messages, but a laboratory dedicated to MEMOs – Mobile Elements in Micro-Organisms.

Dr. Michele Caggana has been honored by the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) for her leadership in improving laboratory screening of newborns for genetic disorders. Dr. Caggana, director of the Newborn Screening Program at the New York State Department of Health's Wadsworth Center, received the Harry Hannon Laboratory Improvement Award in Newborn Screening at the APHL’s recent Newborn Screening and Genetic Testing Symposium in St. Louis.

Lyme disease, transmitted by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, is the most common vector-borne disease in U.S. Vector-borne diseases are carried by mosquitoes, ticks or fleas. The bacterium is introduced during a tick bite and then survives in the bloodstream and can spread to the heart, joints, or brain. Infections can result in arthritis, neurological abnormalities or carditis. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 30,000 people are infected annually.