WPHL’S BIOTERRORISM RESPONSE LABORATORY PROGRAM
BT laboratory response plans have been in existence since 1999, but the critical role of Public Health Laboratories only became apparent during the Anthrax events of 2001. Wyoming Bioterrorism Response Laboratory (BRL) Program operates under the auspices of the Wyoming Public Health Laboratory (WPHL). The laboratory is associated with the National Laboratory Response Network and is working with community laboratories to establish a statewide laboratory response capability and capacity.
Wyoming’s Laboratory Response Network
Bioterrorism Community Laboratory Capacity Building Grant Project
The WPHL BRL is regulated by both CLIA and the Select Agent Program. The Select Agent Program is the federal government program under which laboratories are regulated to work with the agents of bioterrorism that cause diseases in both animals and humans. Many of these diseases can spread quite readily on their own, do not require any microbiological manipulation or weaponization to make them effective agents for Terrorism, and can infect free ranging or zoo-confined wild animals as well as man & domestic animals.
Several potential BT agents are endemic in Wyoming’s wildlife, requiring differentiation between naturally occurring disease and an intentional release. Rapid identification of a suspect BT agent is essential to provide valuable information in patient treatment, support criminal investigations and to ensure that safety measures are implemented to protect human & animal health and safety.
The WPHL Bioterrorism Response Laboratory is a member of the Laboratory Response Network which is overseen by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Through this affiliation the WPHL BRL ensures the most consistent, highest qualify testing protocols for BT Agents are available for use with human and environmental specimens for the citizens of the State of Wyoming.
WPHL’s CHEMICAL EXPOSURE RESPONSE PLAN
Under the auspices of the Bioterrorism Response Laboratory Program, the Wyoming Public Health Laboratory Chemical Exposure Response Plan offers assistance to healthcare providers for treating victims of chemical exposures. The following link has information about these services.
Chemical Exposure Response Plan