Overview[]
The Laboratory Response Network (LRN) is charged with maintaining an integrated network of federal, military, state, local, and international laboratories that can respond to bioterrorism, chemical terrorism, and other public-health emergencies. The biological component of LRN provides network capacity to test for biological agents in a variety of formats including clinical specimens, and food and environmental samples. The laboratories in this component are classified as either reference, national, or sentinel laboratories, depending on the types of tests that the laboratory can perform and how it handles infectious agents.