Vol. 8, No. 2
Feb. 2016
Arsenic in Iowa above EPA standards

Iowa County Sanitarians have been testing Iowa wells since July 1 for arsenic under the new Chapter 24 rules in the Iowa Administrative Code (IAC 641.24). The updated code allows Grants-to-Counties funding to be used for arsenic testing in addition to the routine testing of wells for nitrate and total coliforms.

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South Carolina eyes Iowa information system

An information management system used by public health laboratories in four countries and co-developed by the Hygienic Laboratory drew staff from the South Carolina public health laboratory in hopes that the system might improve their processes, too.

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Iowa Resident Tests Positive for Zika Virus

The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) on Feb. 19 announced that an Iowa resident, who recently traveled to countries with ongoing Zika virus transmission, has tested positive for the virus. Following approval of Zika testing by IDPH, health care providers sent specimens to the State Hygienic Laboratory, which then routed them to the CDC for analysis. The older adult (61 to 80 years of age) female has recently traveled to Central America.

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CDC chooses lab for tuberculosis genotyping

The State Hygienic Laboratory is one of five state public health laboratories selected as pilot reference centers to provide whole genome sequencing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) isolates using next generation sequencing.

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Listeria monocytogenes found in blue cheese

Maytag Dairy Farms in Newton announced on Feb. 18 a voluntary recall of Maytag Raw Milk Blue Cheese (lot number 150482) due to possible contamination with Listeria monocytogenes. This follows the recall of lot number 150481 that was announced Feb. 13.

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Testing for Listeria

There are many parts of testing for a virus, disease or other condition. Here are a few steps in testing for Listeria.

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