FEATURE
On January 21, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
reported the first US case of a novel, SARS-like coronavirus that has
infected thousands of people in China, killing hundreds.
The respiratory bug was first detected
in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in
late 2019, but quickly spread throughout
Asia, from South Korea to Singapore. It
took only a few weeks to reach the US
mainland in Washington State and just a
few days more to show up in Chicago and
then California.
Yet, despite the alarm raised by the
novel virus—US authorities are already
screening passengers arriving from China
at select US airports—some state public
health laboratories will be challenged to
test for it.
The Virginia Division of Consolidated
Laboratory Services (DCLS), for example,
has experienced a steady erosion of
federal funding for non-influenza
respiratory virus testing, which includes
testing for coronaviruses. Denise Toney,
PhD, who heads the laboratory, explained,
“If [a pathogen] isn’t flu and we want to
rule out all the other viruses, we now
have to prioritize and limit the testing
to be most efficient with our reduced
resources.”
by
Na
ncy
Ma
dd
ox
, M
PH
, w
rite
r
PublicHealthLabs
@APHL
APHL.org
Winter 2020 LAB MATTERS
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