Tuberculosis

Microbiologist Sean Toney Analyzing a TB Specimen at the Centers for Disease Control, Public Health Image Library, CDC#

Public health laboratories test to identify tuberculosis quickly as it resurges in this country in new and virulent forms. Laboratories also test for resistant strains and perform universal genotyping that is useful for identifying outbreaks.

A decade of declining funding is compromising the infrastructure and preventing successful coordination between laboratories, controllers of the disease and clinicians.

Saved Topics: Infectious Diseases, Tuberculosis

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TB Lab Assessment Tool

Assess Your TB Lab and Get Tips on Improving the Quality of Your Practices

In 1995 APHL (then know as the Association of State and Territorial Public Health Laboratory Directors) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention developed and published Mycobacterium tuberculosis: Assessing Your Laboratory, a tool designed to assist laboratories in the assessment of the quality of their laboratory’s TB diagnostic practices. This year APHL members and staff, in conjunction with CDC, clinical and commercial laboratorians have updated the content of the original tool to reflect the profound changes to TB diagnostics in the ensuing years. The content has been converted to the electronic tool that you are able to access here.

Core TB Lab Services

Core TB Laboratory Services for Public Health Laboratories

The APHL TB Steering Committee developed this report with the purpose of defining the TB laboratory services that Public Health Laboratories should provide or assure access to. It was designed for use by State Public Health Laboratories and Local Public Health Laboratories that offer TB services. Providing a basic set of services locally within each state laboratory should improve turnaround times and permit the laboratory to provide and retain the expertise to provide leadership and consultation within each state.

TB Cooperative Agreement

Have Questions About the Tuberculosis Cooperative Agreement? Get Them Answered Here!

The Laboratory Upgrade Component of the TB Cooperative Agreement began in 1992 with the primary purpose of facilitating improvements in TB laboratory performance. A particular sum of money (currently about $7.7 million) is distributed between 68 state, territory, and local public health laboratories and that distribution is based on a predetermined (by CDC) Funding Formula. In the past, that formula was not well understood by most grant recipients. In 2008 CDC convened a workgroup tasked with developing consensus-based recommendations for a new formula to be used for the Cooperate Agreements for FY2010-2014. This webpage contains various documents that explain the funding formula in detail as well as resources aimed at making the application process a bit easier.

TB Co-Ag - Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Bacteria Under Microscope, Public Health Image Library, Centers for Disease Control#

TB Resource page

Tuberculosis Resources for Better Laboratory Practice

Access Reports, Tools and Guidelines Developed by APHL's TB Steering Committee. Over the last few years APHL has developed several resources specific to TB laboratory practices. Check the Tuberculosis Resources page frequently for updates and new links to external resources.

TB Resources; Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Bacteria Culture Plates Drug Susceptibility Test, Public Health Image Library, CDC#

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