title: Sharing experiences from a reference laboratory in the public health response for Ebola viral disease, MERS-CoV and H7N9 influenza virus investigations.
abstract: An efficient public health preparedness and response plan for infectious disease management is important in recent times when emerging and exotic diseases that hitherto were not common have surfaced in countries with potential to spread outside borders. Stewardship from a reference laboratory is important to take the lead for the laboratory network, to proactively set up disease surveillance, provide referral diagnostic services, on-going training and mentorship and to ensure coordination of an effective laboratory response. In Malaysia, the Institute for Medical Research has provided the stewardship for the Ministry of Health's laboratory network that comprises of hospital pathology, public health and university laboratories. In this paper we share our experiences in recent infectious disease outbreak investigations as a reference laboratory within the Ministry of Health infectious disease surveillance network.
authors.affiliation: Virology Unit, Institute for Medical Research, Kuala Lumpur 50558, Malaysia. Electronic address: saras@imr.gov.my.
authors.forename: T S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Saraswathy Subramaniam
authors.affiliation: Virology Unit, Institute for Medical Research, Kuala Lumpur 50558, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Ravindran
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Thayan
authors.affiliation: Virology Unit, Institute for Medical Research, Kuala Lumpur 50558, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Mohd Apandi
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Yusof
authors.affiliation: Virology Unit, Institute for Medical Research, Kuala Lumpur 50558, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Jeyanthi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Suppiah
authors.affiliation: Virology Unit, Institute for Medical Research, Kuala Lumpur 50558, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Tengku Rogayah
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Tg Abd Rashid
authors.affiliation: Virology Unit, Institute for Medical Research, Kuala Lumpur 50558, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Zarina Mohd
authors.initials: ZM
authors.lastname: Zawawi
authors.affiliation: Virology Unit, Institute for Medical Research, Kuala Lumpur 50558, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Nor Aziyah
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Mat Rahim
authors.affiliation: Virology Unit, Institute for Medical Research, Kuala Lumpur 50558, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Fauziah
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kassim
authors.affiliation: Virology Unit, Institute for Medical Research, Kuala Lumpur 50558, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Rozainanee Mohd
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Zain
authors.affiliation: Virology Unit, Institute for Medical Research, Kuala Lumpur 50558, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Zainah
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Saat
keywords: Emerging diseases; Influenza A; MERS-CoV; Public health; Reference laboratory