Biothreat Response Laboratory
Infectious Diseases
The Utah Public Health Laboratory (UPHL) biothreat response laboratory is part of the national Laboratory Response Network for Biological Threats (LRN-B). Our role is to:
- Quickly and accurately test environmental and clinical samples for biological agents that can be used as weapons of mass destruction. These include biological agents that occur naturally, are part of a bioterrorism event, or are newly emerging. We work with hospitals, local health departments, law enforcement, and other partners.
- Provide training and outreach to clinical laboratories, local health departments, law enforcement, and other partners.
The biothreat response laboratory works with local health departments, law enforcement, and HAZMAT teams to test suspicious materials for biothreat agents. Biothreat agents are specific bacteria, viruses, and toxins that can be used in bioterrorism.
If you are a member of the public and you’ve found a suspicious package or letter, such as one that says it contains anthrax, call law enforcement. They’ll investigate and send us samples to test, if necessary. We only test samples that the FBI or local law enforcement have decided are part of a credible threat.
If you’re a local health department, law enforcement, or a first responder who needs a sample tested, call us before you send the sample. We can test samples 24 hours a day, every day of the year including holidays. We test the following sample types:
• Swabs
• Wipes
• Powders
• Liquids
• Food
• Papers, letters, or packages containing suspicious substances
We use PCR, bacterial culture, and immunoassay to test for the following biothreat agents in each environmental sample we receive:
• Anthrax (Bacillus anthracis)
• Glanders (Burkholderia mallei)
• Melioidosis (Burkholderia pseudomallei)
• Tularemia (Francisella tularensis)
• Plague (Yersinia pestis)
• Smallpox and other orthopoxviruses
• Ricin toxin
Before you send us a sample, it must be pre-screened by a HAZMAT team for:
• Explosives
• Radiation
• Volatile organic compounds
We encourage additional field screenings for flammability, corrosivity, and pH, but these aren’t required.
Record the pre-screening results on the Environmental Biothreat Test Request Form and send it to us with the sample.
Follow the guidelines in our Environmental sample collection instructions when collecting samples. Always use plastic containers to collect and store samples because glass interferes with our ricin toxin test.
Contact the biothreat response training coordinator to order sample collection kits or to learn more about our training opportunities.
The biothreat response laboratory works with physicians, clinicians, hospitals, laboratories, and veterinarians to test samples for the following agents:
• Anthrax (Bacillus anthracis)
• Brucellosis (Brucella spp.)
• Tularemia (Francisella tularensis)
• Glanders (Burkholderia mallei)
• Melioidosis (Burkholderia pseudomallei)
• Novel Coronavirus (MERS-CoV)
• Orthopox viruses (Smallpox, mpox, etc.)
• Botulism (Clostridium botulinum toxin)
• Plague (Yersinia pestis)
• Q-fever (Coxiella burnetii)
• Ebola and Marburg virus
We use the following tests:
• Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
• Direct fluorescent antibody (DFA) staining
• Bacterial culture
• Microagglutination assays (for serology testing)
Each sample we receive must be sent with a completed infectious disease test request form.
For local health departments and clinicians:
- Call us before you send any samples. Preauthorization by DHHS epidemiology or the CDC is required to test for certain biothreat agents (such as botulism, Ebola, or Marburg).
- You don’t need to call us before sending a sample for mpox testing unless there’s a high suspicion of Clade I mpox. Visit the CDC website to learn more about current mpox outbreaks.
- Call DHHS epidemiology at 1-888-EPI-UTAH (1-888-374-8824) for disease questions and testing preauthorization.
For sentinel laboratories:
If you suspect a biothreat agent in a clinical sample:
- Follow the LRN sentinel level clinical laboratory protocols from ASM to figure out if you need to send us the sample for testing. These protocols are also in your rule out/refer bench cards.
- If the biothreat agent can’t be ruled out, call us before you send us the sample.
- Seal and triple package any culture plates and specimen containers you send for testing.
- Send samples to us with a STAT courier, if possible. This will give you faster test results.
- Secure the specimens, plates, and blood culture tubes in your laboratory in case we confirm that they contain a select agent.
- Figure out if any of your staff members were exposed to the biothreat agent.
- Wait to get the test results from us. We’ll call you and send a fax or encrypted email with the preliminary and final test results.
If the biothreat agent is ruled out:
- Continue with your routine identification procedures.
If the biothreat agent is confirmed:
- Destroy all specimens and cultures containing the biothreat agent within 7 days of confirmation. More information on destroying select agents is found in Decontamination of Select Agents Isolated in the Clinical Laboratory.
- We’ll call you and help you fill out your part of the APHIS/CDC Form 4 to report the identification of the select agent. We’ll also help you fill out Form 3 if any of your staff were exposed to the agent.
Learn more about the APHIS/CDC forms:
Learn more about the tests we do:
- UPHL Biothreat Response Laboratory Testing Summary
- UPHL Infectious Disease Client Services Manual
- Submitting Samples to UPHL for Ebola or Marburg Virus Disease Testing
Trainings and webinars:
- CDC Biothreat Preparedness Training for Sentinel Laboratories Series
- Biothreat Rule Out or Refer Series | Lab Training | CDC
- CDC packaging & shipping course
- Contact Kim Christensen for information on packaging and shipping certification through APHL and SAF-T-PAK.
- Laboratory Response Network 101 Part I - APHL
- Laboratory Response Network 101 Part II - APHL
- Could this be Burkholderia pseudomallei? - APHL
Other resources:
- Biothreat agent quick guide for sentinel labs
- Clinical Laboratory Biological Exposure Monitoring Guide
- Laboratory Exposure Assessment Guide
- Brucella and Ochrobactrum Taxonomic Updates for Laboratories - ASM
- UPHL Recommendations for Bacillus cereus biovar anthracis Identification
- Clinical Laboratory Preparedness and Response Guide (APHL/ASM blue book)
- Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories (BMBL), 6th Edition
The biothreat response lab is on-call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days per year. Call us before you send any samples:
• 801-965-2561 (during normal business hours)
• 801-560-6586 (after hours, weekends and holidays)
Call DHHS epidemiology at 1-888-EPI-UTAH (1-888-374-8824) with disease questions or for testing preauthorization.
Contact the biothreat response training coordinator for more information about training opportunities for clinical labs, HAZMAT teams, local health departments, and students.
Biothreat response team:
Kim Christensen
Biothreat response laboratory coordinator and select agent responsible official
801-965-2561
[email protected]
Annette Atkinson
Select agent alternate responsible official
801-965-2561
[email protected]
Courtney Freestone
Biothreat response training coordinator
801-965-2561
[email protected]