The Public Health Laboratory provides testing services for the identification of microorganisms that cause disease, including bacteria, fungi, viruses, and parasites. These services aid in the prevention and control of communicable diseases.

Our goals:

• Interrupt the spread of communicable diseases by rapid identification of human pathogens.
• Assure drinking water is free from microbial contaminants.
• Assure that food handlers and day-care workers who have salmonella or other intestinal diseases are clear before they return to work.
• Prevent the spread of rabies to humans by testing high-risk animals that have human contact or are found in the environment.

The Public Health Laboratory tests for:

• Tuberculosis (including the QuantiFeron blood test for screening)
• Reference testing for fungal diseases
• HIV screening and confirmation testing
• Syphilis confirmation testing
• Enteric bacteriology for Salmonella, Shigella, and E. coli O157
• Malaria confirmation by blood smear examination
• Measles detection by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)
• Bordetella pertussis (Whooping Cough) detection by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
• Influenza detection and sub-typing by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
• Norovirus outbreak detection by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
• Carbapenem-Resistant Organisms (CRO) identification through whole genome sequencing
• Candida auris detection by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
• Respiratory pathogen panel (RSV/FluA/FluB/SARS CoV-2) detection by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
• Unknown bacteria identification through whole genome sequencing

Additional tests include:

• Water for microbial contamination.
• Rabies virus testing for animals that have had human contact and are at risk for carrying the rabies virus.

Diagnostic tests for communicable disease agents are available on site or through the National Laboratory Network consisting of the California State Laboratory and Center for Disease Control Laboratories.