The National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) is a dynamic organisation, creating news in the field of diagnostic pathology and research every day. The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), an institute of the NHLS, also alerts healthcare authorities and workers globally about infectious disease outbreaks requiring urgent and immediate attention.
Latest News
The National Health Laboratory Service (“NHLS”) dismisses suspended Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer
MEDIA STATEMENT The National Health Laboratory Service (“NHLS”) dismisses suspended Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer. The National Health Laboratory Service has today terminated the employment of its suspended Chief Executive Officer, Ms Joyce [...]
Innovative “invisible ink” detects TB
Professor Bavesh Kana and his team at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) and National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS), Johannesburg, together with international researchers have pioneered an innovative process to detect TB bacteria by adding [...]
The Outbreak Response Unit of the NICD provides support to all provinces for outbreaks of epidemic infectious diseases.
For more information contact the unit on +27 (11) 386 0545.
Update on Novel Coronavirus (2019-Ncov) Outbreak in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China
On 31 December 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) China country office reported a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China. The cause has since been confirmed as a novel coronavirus [...]
Outbreak of carbapenem–resistant Klebsiella infections at Tembisa hospital
What do we know about this outbreak so far? On 24 December 2019, the National Institute of Communicable Diseases, a division of the National Health Laboratory Service was informed of a suspected outbreak of bloodstream [...]
Statement on Salmonella cases in KwaZulu-Natal Province
During October and November 2018, certain private sector laboratories have reported an increase in Salmonella cases in KwaZulu-Natal Province. Salmonella was also the most likely cause of two recent foodborne disease outbreaks reported from eThekwini [...]