The Delaware Public Health Laboratory (DPHL) is a vital component of the state's public health system. Our mission is to provide accurate and timely analytical data, information and consultation to protect and enhance the health of the people of Delaware. Test results provided by DPHL determine the quality of drinking water, the presence and type of illness, chemical contamination and disease threats.

The DPHL includes the following laboratory sections that use state of the art technology:

• Clinical Microbiology and Sequencing
• Molecular and Virology
• Environmental Chemistry/Drinking Water
• Sexually Transmitted Infections
• Biological and Chemical Preparedness

The DPHL also provides technical support, supervision and courier service to DPH satellite laboratories and other health care facilities across Delaware. DPHL collaborates with the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), local laboratories, health professionals, and educational institutions to identify health threats, alert health authorities and train laboratory staff and other health care providers.

• The DPHL monitors and inspects CLIA certified laboratories throughout Delaware to ensure compliance with operational standards.
• In the months following Sept. 11, 2001 the lab tested 175 suspicious powders and samples for anthrax. Microbiologists were on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to provide rapid results - usually within 48 hours.
• DPH laboratorians can test for sexually transmitted infectious agents as well as Ebola, Zika, Norovirus, West Nile Virus and the Plague.
• Have you ever had the flu? If so, did you know that DPHL gives your doctor test results to make sure that you get the best treatment possible! DPHL subtypes influenza to assist the World Health Organization prepare the formulation of the annual influenza vaccine.
• The DPHL is the only laboratory in Delaware that can test for Rabies in animals that may have exposed humans through contact with rapid animals.
• The laboratory also tests drinking water for bacteria and chemicals that could cause illness if the water is not properly treated.
• DPHL is the only laboratory in Delaware that can determine foodborne outbreaks and find links to foods or other sources of outbreaks.
• DPHL is the only laboratory in Delaware that has a full service mycobacteria laboratory performing molecular identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing on tuberculosis isolates.
• Our laboratory can detect and identify the antimicrobial resistance mechanism for Carbapenemase Resistant Enterobacteriaciae.

Take I-95 South to Delaware Rt. 1 South (Exit 4A). (disregard this step if you are starting at a point farther South where access to I-95 is not required)
Follow Rt. 1 South, exiting at South Smyrna Exit (114). Go to traffic light. Turn right onto Rt. 13 North. Follow Rt. 13 North to next traffic light (Smyrna Leipsic Rd). Turn left at that traffic light (it appears as though you are entering a housing development). Follow the road around the curve to the stop sign. That will be Sunnyside Rd. The Delaware Hospital for the Chronically Ill will be directly ahead. Crossover Sunnyside Rd. and enter the Hospital campus and take an immediate right. Then take another immediate right. The laboratory is the 1-story brick building on the right closest to the highway. You will see a sign that indicates that the laboratory is ahead.
From Southern Points:
For those of you with GPS units, our address is 30 Sunnyside Road, Smyrna, DE 19977.

Take Delaware Rt. 1 North, following Rt. 1 North to Exit 114 (South Smyrna Exit). Get off Rt. 1 at Exit 114. Proceed to traffic light and turn right onto Rt. 13 North. Follow Rt. 13 North to next traffic light (Smyrna Leipsic Rd.). Turn left at that traffic light. Go around curve to stop sign. This will be Sunnyside Rd. The Delaware Hospital for the Chronically Ill will be directly ahead. Go straight across Sunnyside Rd. and enter the Hospital campus and take an immediate right. Then take another immediate right. The laboratory is the 1-story brick building on the right closest to the highway. There is a sign that indicates that the laboratory is ahead.