Lab Matters Spring 2025 | Page 21

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH

By Sydney Comet , associate specialist , Environmental Health ; Brigid Bollweg , laboratory scientist , Minnesota Public Health Laboratory ; Haley Ersfeld , laboratory scientist , Minnesota Public Health Laboratory ; Agata Figurniak , laboratory preparedness scientist , Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment ; and Ashley Luntsford , MLS ( ASCP ), laboratory preparedness scientist , Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

Waterborne Pathogens and LRN-B

The Laboratory Response Network ( LRN ) was established in 1999 by a partnership between the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ), APHL and the Federal Bureau of Investigation , with the goal of strengthening laboratory systems in public health emergency responses . The LRN works to ensure public health laboratories are ready to respond to emergency events that put the public at risk , whether it be from biological agents ( LRN-B ) or chemical agents ( LRN-C ). The first major LRN activation was in 2001 , when envelopes containing anthrax spores were mailed to prominent politicians and news media offices . Since then , the LRN-B has expanded to 120 participating laboratories and has increased testing capacity to include a wide variety of matrices , including clinical specimens , food , animal and environmental samples . 1

Waterborne pathogens have the potential to rapidly cause mass infection in large populations . Both intentional and non-intentional contamination can occur in drinking , recreational , ground and surface waters , or artificial water venues such as splash pads . Timely and efficient responses are critical when water supplies become contaminated . To ensure health departments and laboratories are properly prepared for these types of events , CDC and the US Environmental Protection Agency ( EPA ) developed the joint Protocol for Collection of Water Samples for Detection of Pathogens and Biothreat Agents , which provides guidance on concentrating large volumes (> 100 L ) of water for detection of low-concentration pathogens in large water systems . 2 In turn , CDC has recently updated the only water-related LRN protocol for processing these largevolume water samples concentrated on ultrafilters in the field . By conducting the filtration at the point of sampling , the updated LRN protocol significantly decreases the biosafety risk during transport and laboratory processing .

Multi-center Evaluation Study

CDC has partnered with APHL to conduct a multi-center evaluation ( MCE ) to test the updated protocol performance and reproducibility . Five state public health laboratories that are active members of the LRN-B volunteered to participate in the study : the State Laboratory at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment ( CDPHE ), the Florida Department of Health Bureau of Public Health Laboratories , the Idaho Bureau of Laboratories , the Minnesota Department of Health Public Health

Laboratory ( MDH-PHL ) and the Virginia Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services . In October 2024 , two members from each participating state laboratory traveled to CDC headquarters for a two-day , hands-on method training to learn specialized laboratory techniques more commonly used in environmental laboratories . In return , CDC and APHL learned more about each jurisdiction ’ s response policies , challenges and strengths .

In response to the training , scientists from MDH-PHL remarked that “... attending hands-on training at CDC has been a great experience for us .... We are always enthusiastic about expanding our testing capabilities and collaborating with other laboratories . The comprehensive training and the support of APHL will be invaluable in the event of an outbreak situation .”

During the 2024 – 2025 winter , the participating MCE laboratory scientists will receive spiked samples to test the water processing protocol in their BSL-3 laboratories and report this data to CDC and APHL . Their study

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References :

1 . CDC . About the laboratory response network . The Laboratory Response Network Partners in Preparedness . https :// www . cdc . gov / laboratoryresponse-network / php / about / index . html

2 . Gallardo , Vincent , S . Shah , M . Mattioli , AND K . Berling . Protocol for Collection of Water Samples for Detection of Pathogens and Biothreat Agents . U . S . Environmental Protection Agency , Washington , DC , EPA / 600 / R-21 / 280 , 2022 .

Ten state laboratory scientists participated in the multi-center evaluation study , and one APHL staff member and two CDC staff members attended the method protocol training at CDC heaquarters . Photo : US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .