Emergency preparedness and response is one of the 11 core functions and capabilities of state public health laboratories. The Hygienic Laboratory responds to credible threat events involving unknown substances.

Emergency preparedness and response are provided for public health emergencies: potential biological or chemical threats, pandemic influenza, disease outbreaks (e.g., Ebola), and environmental or natural disasters (e.g., chemical spills, flooding).

In addition to responding to events involving unknown substances such as suspicious powders or other environmental specimens, confirmatory or “rule-out” testing is performed on clinical isolates to identify potential agents of bioterrorism.

Major achievements:

• Conducted a bioterrorism “Wet Workshop” for 24 sentinel laboratorians.
• The statewide courier service collected 12,500 routine specimens and 228 urgent specimens and delivered them to the Hygienic Laboratory for testing, allowing for rapid response time compared to specimens sent via alternative shipping methods.
• Three staff members joined the University of Iowa Incident Command System to provide guidance and expertise in the event of a disaster affecting the UI community.
• More than 46 clinical isolates from sentinel laboratories throughout Iowa were tested for substances of potential public health threat.