Bacteriology Laboratory

The policy of the Kansas Department of Health and Environmental Laboratories (KHEL) is to provide microbiology support to county and state agencies. In addition, KHEL serves as a microbiology laboratory to hospital and independent clinical laboratories in order to confirm atypical results from cultures and clinical specimens. KHEL utilizes matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-ToF) for the identification of bacteria. Additionally, KHEL now tests bacterial isolates suspected of being carbapenem-resistant organisms (CRO). This information is also used as part of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) Epidemiology and Public Health Informatics infectious disease surveillance program. The KDHE Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Response program conducts infectious disease surveillance and outbreak investigations and provides subject matter expertise to local health departments, physicians, veterinarians, and the general public.

KDHE Reporting Requirements

KDHE reporting requirements can be found on the Disease Reporting for Health Professionals page. This report identifies diseases that must be reported to the state epidemiologists and which isolates must be submitted to the laboratory. Please follow packaging and shipping guidelines found in this manual, or on the Packaging and Shipping page to submit specimens to the Kansas Department of Health and Environmental Laboratories.

Microbiology Guidelines

For all human specimens submitted for microbiology testing, see the Microbiology Specimen Submission Guidelines (PDF) for specific collection, rejection, and transport guidelines.