The Maryland Department of Health Laboratories Administration serves as a reference laboratory for the CDC's Laboratory Response Network (LRN). As defined on the
CDC's website: “The LRN is a national security asset that, with its partners, will develop, maintain and strengthen an integrated domestic and international network of laboratories to respond quickly to biological and chemical threats and other high priority public health emergencies needs through training, rapid testing, timely notification and secure messaging of laboratory results". The LRN includes the LRN-B (Biological) and LRN-C (Chemical) programs, and links state and local public health labs, veterinary, military, and international labs.
The MDH Laboratories Administration, in its role as an Advanced Level LRN-B Reference Laboratory, provides resources to the Sentinel Laboratories through their Biosafety Outreach Program within the Office of Laboratory Emergency Preparedness and Response (OLEPR). In an effort to better serve the Sentinel Laboratories in the State of Maryland in their biosafety needs, we have established this webpage with appropriate links, resources, and contact information for the Lab Administration.
Sentinel Laboratories are the foundation of the LRN and play an important role in early detection of biological agents by providing routine diagnostic services, rule-out, and referral steps in their identification process. Clinical laboratories must meet certain criteria to be considered Sentinel Labs. APHL has provided guidelines for meeting these criteria, as well as the roles and responsibilities of Sentinel and Reference Labs. They can be found here. The Biosafety Outreach program is to provide support to this integral function in bioterrorism preparedness and response.
