Historically, the U.S. Virgin Islands did not have the capability to preform high complexity testing and had to ship specimens off island, although it is located in a geographic region where mosquitos that carry Zika, dengue and chikungunya viruses are common.
UNITED STATES VIRGIN ISLANDS
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
_________________________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Augsut 26, 2017
New Lab Equipment Improves Disease Detection in U.S. Virgin Islands
Historically, the U.S. Virgin Islands did not have the capability to preform high complexity testing and had to ship specimens off island, although it is located in a geographic region where mosquitos that carry Zika, dengue and chikungunya viruses are common.
In 2015, the Virgin Islands reached a public health milestone by partnering with CDC’s Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity (ELC) program. The USVI was awarded resources to build laboratory capacity, equip the laboratory, and start testing locally. Funding from the ELC program had an immediate impact in USVI both in terms of surveillance and responding to outbreaks.
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