Public health laboratories could get a boost from a large infusion of federal funds for testing. That would come from $110 million being provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to help states and communities track and respond to infectious diseases. The funding is intended primarily to increase surveillance of vaccine-preventable-diseases, foodborne-disease prevention and the use of advanced molecular testing for disease detection. Of that total sum, $51 million is being provided through the mandate of the Affordable Care Act. “In the last year alone, states were hit with emerging diseases, like chikungunya and respiratory infections from enterovirus D-68, while also responding to outbreaks of measles, foodborne illness, and other threats. These awards lay the foundation for those on the front lines—state and local health departments—to act quickly to prevent illness and deaths,” said Beth P. Bell, M.D., director of the CDC’s national center for emerging and zoonotic infectious diseases, in a statement. The funding breaks down along these lines: $6 million to establish local, state, and territorial health coordinators to track vaccine-preventable diseases like measles and pertussis, the rates of which have been increasing in recent years due to a growing resistance by some parents to…
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