Out of This World

Video by Ryan J Law

Epidemiology Lab

88th Air Base Wing

Aug. 27, 2020 | 4:13

The United States Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine’s epidemiology laboratory is the Air Force’s sole clinical reference laboratory and is testing and processing samples of COVID-19 sent from military treatment facilities around the world, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, Aug. 17, 2020. The lab was authorized by the Defense Health Agency to test samples from Department of Defense beneficiaries for COVID-19 in early March. USAFSAM's epidemiology laboratory, nested in the Air Force Research Laboratory's 711th Human Performance Wing, has a long history of testing and identifying various infectious respiratory diseases, including those that occur on a regular basis like influenza, and the ones similar to COVID-19 that become a public health issue, spreading globally. Because of this, the team works closely with the CDC and other agencies. (U.S. Air Force video by Ryan Law)