Media/Reagent Lab, Glassware and Central Accessioning

The Media/Reagent Lab makes sterile media used primarily in the testing process by the environmental microbiology and bacteriology sections. It also supplies media for the tuberculosis, mycology and serology sections, as needed. In fiscal year 2013, the laboratory made approximately 309,000 tubes and 35,400 petri dishes of media.

The Glassware staff regularly cleans and sterilizes laboratory tools, creating the necessary sterile testing environment. These tools include test tubes, beakers, flasks, carboys and many other items.

Central Accessioning receives specimens for the Environmental Health Division and Disease Control Division and checks for accuracy of information and proper sample collection. It also assigns each a bar code and sends them to the laboratory for testing. The Coralville and Ankeny Central Accessioning groups combined process approximately 5,000 samples per month for Environmental Health and about 8,000 per month for Public Health testing.

In fiscal 2013, Media/Reagent Lab, Glassware and Central Accessioning supported the Environmental Microbiology and Limnology sections on a large, nationally recognized project. More than 200 samples (800 subsamples) were collected from the Mississippi River and tested for two analytes (E.coli and enterococci). Sample aliquots were filtered for realtime PCR, and filters sent to EPA for testing.