W​HEREAS,​

Maryland's State public health laboratory system is celebrating 125 years of monitoring, assessing, and assur​​ing community health; and 

WHEREAS,

The State public health laboratory system, as the oldest continuously operating agency in the State health department, has provided a century of dedicated scientific service to the citizens and local health departments of the State; and

WHEREAS,

Our State public health laboratory's historic accomplishments range from developing early tests to assess food safety and environmental pollution to implementing the first State-based program to screen for hereditary disorders and more recently developing testing programs to identify and characterize emerging and remerging threats to public health and the environment such as pandemic respiratory viruses (influenza and SARS-CoV-2), mosquito and tickborne illnesses (West Nile virus infections and Lyme disease), antibiotic resistance, fluorinated forever chemicals (PFAS); and

WHEREAS,

The benefits of reduced suffering and health care savings associated with public health testing in such areas as rabies, drinking water quality, environmental pollution, and hereditary disorders amount to millions of dollars a year, and the value of the State's public health laboratory system as a technical and training resource for developing and transferring new laboratory knowledge and methods cannot be duplicated in other State agencies.