Protect community health and safety

We play a vital role in responding to emergencies at home and abroad.

Our expert staff support infectious disease outbreaks, natural disasters and disaster victim identification and management.

Our teams also drive research and innovations that help predict and prevent infectious conditions, control the spread of disease and deliver the forensic analysis investigators need to solve crimes and keep our communities safe.

Highlights 

• Our pathologists, scientists and technical staff provide confirmation and reference testing for infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, meningococcus, influenza, legionella, HIV, the human papillomavirus and many more.  Fast, accurate confirmation is critical to prevent the spread of disease in our public hospitals and communities.

• Our Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology Laboratory Services is the only NSW laboratory equipped to undertake diagnostic testing for the Ebola virus.

• We support the World Health Organisation’s Neisseria Reference Laboratory which coordinates national surveillance of the pathogens that cause meningococcal disease and gonorrhoea. The laboratory provides comprehensive data on strains of gonorrhoea that are resistant to antibiotics, helps inform treatment and coordinates monitoring of antimicrobial resistance in gonorrhoea across the Western Pacific and South East Asia.

• We operate the only hospital-based medical entomology laboratory in Australia which provides research and advice about the impact of insect-borne diseases on human health.

• We partner with the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance to evaulate Australia’s immunisation programs and contribute to the development of national vaccination policies.

• We manage the first laboratory in Australia that was equipped to measure iodine levels in urine with a specialised testing method. The process was used by the Centre for Disease Control (Atlanta) to establish an international quality assurance program for testing iodine levels.

• We provide specialised testing to help detect legionella bacteria in cooling towers and hot water systems which can lead to infection in humans.

• We offer one of the most comprehensive range of tests in NSW that help detect harmful trace elements including lead, copper, zinc, selenium and titanium.