Testing for West Nile Virus has increased the workload at the state health lab in Jefferson City by about 25 to 35 specimens a day, testing for everything the lab does is about 300 to 400 specimens a day. The lab’s director Doctor Eric Blank says they’ve been able to lessen some of the workload by not testing animals from an area that’s already been established to have West Nile Virus, but that does not change things for testing humans. Doctor Blank says, for now, the state has to send any human cases ofWest Nile Virus off to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta for confirmation of the diagnosis, but he says they’re hoping to start doing the confirmation in Missouri.
