A rural public health laboratory, which only processed between 100 and 150 tests a year ago for communicable diseases such as measles, mumps and influenza, now processes it almost 10 times a week to respond to the most widespread virus in a century.
The Humboldt County Public Health Laboratory, in the heart of Eureka, recently processed 1,280 COVID-19 tests in one week through a new process and the early delivery of a new tool that automates the extraction of RNA and DNA – the genetic materials by which a microbiologist can determine whether a patient sample contains markers for the COVID-19 virus.
“We would have been much more limited in capacity than not before the early arrival of the KingFisher Flex,” said Public Health Lab Manager Jeremy Corrigan, as they fit into protective labs at the only Bioterrorism Lab in the region. “But that equipment is just one part of a labor-intensive process that includes hours before and after the automatic extraction process that we are talking about.”
The KingFisher Flex from ThermoFisher Scientific is a piece of high-quality lab equipment that uses magnetic particle separation technology, allowing for higher volume testing. It cost nearly $ 75,000 with associated supplies and was paid for with funding from the California Department of Public Health Community Surveillance Grant and Federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
“The COVID testing process is complex and requires multiple steps to obtain a swab result,” Corrigan said, adding that processing takes between 48 and 72 hours. The KingFisher Flex automates one step of the COVID testing process and provides higher throughput testing. As test demand increases, the more automation we have for each step of the process, the more successful we will be at achieving these unusual numbers. ”
Humboldt County Lab Manager Jeremy Corrigan shows the reagents needed to amplify COVID-19 RNA in a test probe.
The KingFisher can prepare a maximum of 94 samples in 23 minutes compared to the 13 samples in 45 minutes that the lab’s previous extractor could process, Corrigan said. By speeding up this extraction phase, more samples can be tested in a shorter time period. But the recent high-volume output comes not only to the KingFisher; a new test method has also been introduced, which makes the difference.
This test method, formally titled TaqPath COVID-19 Combo Kit, is a rapid diagnostic solution that includes the fluids and controls needed for real-time detection of COVID-19 virus RNA.
“We have changed our whole system. We have a new test and the KingFisher, ‘said Corrigan. “It’s a huge, huge increase for our small lab and I could not be bigger on the team that worked hard to pump out results and keep our community informed of their health on time.”
For the most recent COVID-19 information, visit cdc.gov or cdph.ca.gov. Local information is available at humboldtgov.org or during business hours by contacting [email protected] or calling 707-441-5000.
