Pathogen Analysis

The laboratory has expertise in pathogen analysis of water, food, and environmental surface samples to aid in outbreak investigations to pinpoint the source of contamination and assess the environmental impact from exposure to microbial contaminants.

The State Hygienic Laboratory is accredited by federal and state agencies to support statewide surveillance and regulatory programs in assessing the overall safety of:

  • Public water supplies
  • Private well water
  • Surface water
  • Wastewater
  • Industrial water
  • Sweet water (agricultural)
  • Pools and Spas
  • Food
  • Sediments and Sludges

Types of organisms targeted for testing include:

 

  • Total coliform bacteria (both presence/absence and most probable number) 
  • E. coli bacteria (presence/absence, colony forming units, most probable number) 
  • Fecal coliform bacteria (most probable number and membrane filter) 
  • Iron bacteria
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa (both presence/absence and most probable number) 
  • Heterotrophic bacteria 
  • Yeast and Mold 
  • Microbial Source Tracking 
  • Legionella sp.
  • Salmonella
  • E. coli O157:H7
  • Listeria sp.
  • Listeria monocytogenes
  • Shiga-toxin producing E. coli
  • Cyclospora sp.
  • Wastewater Pathogen Detection for viruses

SHL utilizes a variety of analytical instrumentation including:

  • Real time PCR
  • Digital PCR
  • Droplet digital PCR
  • Microscopy