Napa-Solano Public Health Lab is the only one of its kind in the state that is operated by more than one county

Napa-Solano lab plays critical health role

http://www.napavalleyregister.com/articles/2008/05/09/news/local/doc4823f0195b21e115713695.txt

Following al-Qaida’s attack on New York’s World Trade Center Towers on Sept. 11, 2001, evidence of America’s collective fear turned up in a little-known place - Vallejo’s Napa-Solano Public Health Laboratory. Throughout the fall and winter of 2001, then-lab director John Bunter and his employees went into overdrive — testing envelopes and other materials deemed suspect by a shaken public….

Seven years later, the lab’s staff of 14 continues its crucial mission; furnishing lab results to the communicable disease sections of Napa and Solano County’s public health divisions, helping to stave off and control infectious disease. The lab also serves area nursing homes, blood banks, hospitals and prisons and is instrumental in preventing the spread of tuberculosis, Lyme disease, norovirus and sexually transmitted diseases.

The facility even has a hand in the animal realm — regularly testing dogs, bats and skunks suspected of carrying rabies as well as screening Six Flags Discovery Kingdom’s resident creatures for parasites….

The Napa-Solano Public Health Lab is the only one of its kind in the state that is operated by more than one county, according to Dr. Karen Smith, the public health officer for Napa County. “Eight or nine years ago, Napa County had a small lab — but due to budget shortages and because it was difficult to recruit microbiologists, they decided to join forces with Solano County and started contracting with them,” Shabandi said. Although public health labs are invaluable to the public’s safety, Shabandi said keeping the facility properly staffed with microbiologists and technicians can be challenging….