Lab Culture

PulseNet revolutionized foodborne outbreak detection in the United States. What exactly is it? How did it get started? Why was it so significant? And what does the future of foodborne outbreak detection look like? Brian Sauders, molecular microbiologist at the NY State Department of Agriculture and Markets, and Shari Shea, director of food safety at APHL, answer these questions and more.    Links: What is PulseNet? About PulseNet (CDC) PulseNet success stories 20 years of PulseNet: Preventing thousands of illnesses and saving millions of dollars (cost-benefit analysis) Awards PulseNet has received Innovations in American Government Award CBS News article on PulseNet launch including quotes from Al Gore 1993 Jack in the Box outbreak Multistate Outbreak of Salmonella Bareilly and Salmonella Nchanga Infections Associated with a Raw Scraped Ground Tuna Product Laboratory Response Network (LRN) New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, Division of Food Laboratory Shari Shea on Twitter APHL’s Food Saf

On March 6, a small group of APHL members and our policy staff visited House and Senate offices as part of our annual Hill Day. Peter Kyriacopoulos, APHL’s senior director of public policy, interviewed the group following their meetings to get their immediate thoughts.   Links: ELC Program: Essential Funding for Public Health Lab Response Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity fact sheet APHL Advocacy Priorities   Hill Day group: Chris Whelen – laboratory director, Hawaii Department of Health State Laboratories Division Sara Vetter – manager, Infectious Disease Laboratory, Minnesota Department of Health Public Health Laboratory Jennifer Rakeman – assistant commissioner, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Denise Toney – director, Virginia Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services Peter Kyriacopoulos – senior director of public policy, APHL Celia Hagan – manager of public policy, APHL Nisha Quasba – public policy intern, APHL

Did you know that the Affordable Care Act (ACA, aka Obamacare) includes critical public health funding? What would the repeal of the ACA mean for public health? Peter Kyriacopoulos, APHL’s senior director of public policy, talks about the CDC-managed Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Infectious Diseases (ELC) program, a source of crosscutting support for public health laboratories funded under the ACA through the Prevention and Public Health Fund (PPHF). Links: ELC Program: Essential Funding for Public Health Lab Response (APHL.org) Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Infectious Diseases (ELC) Cooperative Agreement (CDC.gov) Critical Public Health Fund Would Be Lost With ACA Repeal Find your State or Territorial Health Official Find your US Senators Find your US Representative Peter Kyriacopoulos on Twitter APHL Blog @APHL on Twitter APHL on Facebook APHL.org