Ten years ago, Louisiana’s Public Health lab – where the state Dept. of Health and Hospitals tests for things like disease outbreaks and water safety – was in downtown New Orleans. It was wiped out by Hurricane Katrina and had been operating out of temporary facilities until a new lab opened just recently in Baton Rouge.
Dr. Stephen Martin, the lab’s director, walks down the hall and into a lab where drinking water is being tested.
“We get drinking water from all over the state. We test it for metals, herbicides, pesticides, organic contaminants, bacteria.”
All in the name of making sure that water is safe for us to drink.
Further down the hall, there’s a newborn screening lab. Everyday, blood samples from almost 225 newborns are sent here.
“We test every baby born in the state of Louisiana.”
Martin points to two tall stacks of blood spot cards.
“We’re actually going to elute the blood from that paper. In other words, redissolve it."
They test newborns for 28 diseases, like cystic fibrosis and sickle cell anemia.
The lab also deals with those more infectious diseases. Dr. Martin heads upstairs to the Biosafety Level 3 labs.
“BSL 3 are things that cause serious disease or are very difficult to treat. So we use BSL 3 for anthrax, or ebola. We also use it for TB.”
There’s also a bioterrorism lab. The CDC provided the equipment to test for potential threats, like sarin gas. So far, the equipment has only been needed for less dangerous chemicals.
“They provide us the equipment, but let us use it for whatever our state needs. And in 2010 we needed to test seafood for gulf oil and the dispersant.”
Only about half of the public health lab’s team made the move to Baton Rouge. Martin is hoping this advanced, safer facility will attract more staff.
“We’re trying to get back up to even.”