Microbiological testing

The Public Health Microbiology team provides expert scientific knowledge and laboratory investigation for notifiable bacterial pathogens and bacterial or toxin-mediated outbreaks.

We use surveillance and epidemiological data to provide high quality reference and diagnostic services to a wide range of public health and clinical clients investigating bacterial outbreaks.

Our scope can include:

• Food—investigating and surveying the microbiological quality of food including foodborne illnesses, analysing and identifying moulds and detecting foodborne pathogens and their toxins
• Water—investigating water quality and outbreaks from consuming, ingesting or inhaling contaminated water (e.g. drinking, dialysis, swimming and recycled water).
• Molecular epidemiology—genotyping major bacterial pathogens and typing bacteria for identifying and characterising disease outbreaks.
• Leptospirosis—providing expert analysis, advice, diagnostic support and epidemiological data as part of the reference and research laboratory which is part of an international collaborating group.
• Bacterial pathogens—providing a reference and referral service for notifiable bacterial pathogens comprising a number of specialty areas including:
  • enteric pathogens
  • Group A Streptococci
  • Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Neisseria meningitidis
  • Streptococcus pneumoniae
  • Legionellae spp.