The Division of Laboratory Services (DLS) performs sophisticated state of the art chemical, biological, and molecular laboratory testing. In partnership with federal, state, and local entities, testing performed at the state public health laboratory supports critical activities like disease investigation, control, prevention and surveillance; food safety; and environmental health and protection. Leveraging expertise and resources, DLS serves as a reference center for hospitals and local health departments across the Commonwealth.

DLS detects and identifies a wide variety of microorganisms (bacterial and viral) and toxic chemical substances that pose a threat to public health. These include infectious agents related to food-borne disease outbreaks, seasonal influenza, and high-risk and high mortality diseases like antibiotic resistant tuberculosis, hospital-associated pneumonia, and sepsis. This requires the use of technology such as Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) to look for relatedness between organisms that are identified from human or food sources. DLS also tests for environmental contaminants like pesticides in fruits or vegetables sold at farmers markets and bacterial contamination in commercial dairy products. When DLS identifies hospital-associated infections or dangerous, emerging infectious pathogens such as the Zika or Ebola virus, methods for their detection are rapidly deployed. Timely and precise detection of these biological agents is essential for effectively limiting spread and harm to the public.