Surveillance and Epidemiology Resources
The Garey Lab has specialized in C. difficile and MDRO surveillance for more than a decade, creating one of the largest biobanks of clinical samples in the world. Information on partnerships or contributions to our biobank are listed below.
Clostridioides difficile surveillance
C. difficile, a CDC threat level urgent pathogen is a spore-forming Gram-positive anaerobic bacteria capable of causing worldwide epidemics. As part of an ongoing public health partnership, we are able to provide discriminatory strain typing of clinical samples to identify potential outbreaks or clonal dissemination of C. difficile. You can find the most recent results from our C. difficile Across Texas United Surveillance (CAcTUS) Network on the right
In 2021, we are expanding our surveillance nationwide with The Surveillance Highlighting Existing/Emerging Resistance Limiting Our C. difficile Knowledge (SHERLOCK) Project. If you are interested in partnering on the project, please view the overview below and Contact Us for more detailed instructions.
MDRO surveillance
Multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) are associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality in our patients, and may be due to multiple mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance. As part of an ongoing public health partnership, we are able to provide resistance mechanism determinations from clinical carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (CRPA), and Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) samples, as well as from other MDROs to identify clonal or widespread resistance determinants. We accept isolates from hospitals across the United States. Our CRE protocol and a sample of information we can provide can be found below - please reach out through the Contact Us page if you are interested in submitting samples or have questions about specific organisms.