Lab bulletins for August 2026

There are four new lab bulletins (three provincewide and one for Calgary and area).

Delisting of guaiac-based fecal occult blood testing in Alberta (provincial):

• Effective Tuesday, Sept. 8, guaiac-based fecal occult blood test (gFOBT) will be fully removed as an available test (both as a point-of-care test and a central lab test) in Alberta.
• Open the lab bulletin.

Updates to cancer and endocrine gene panel testing (provincial):

• The cancer and endocrine gene panels are being updated based on current scientific evidence.
• This change applies to samples analyzed in the laboratory after July 20.
• Open the lab bulletin for the affected gene panels.

Poliovirus and pertussis serologies for immune verification (provincial):

• Routine serology testing to assess immunity to poliovirus or pertussis is not offered because it is not recommended for this purpose, and all requests will be cancelled.
• Clinicians who suspect acute poliovirus infection should immediately consult the on-call microbiologist/virologist at the Alberta Precision Laboratories Public Health Laboratory.
• Open the lab bulletin.

New contact information for Calgary Zone on fine needle aspirate requisition (Calgary and area):

• The contact information for Calgary Zone has been updated on the Laboratory Fine Needle Aspiration Clinic Patient Referral Requisition, and all previous requisitions 22224 (2025-12) should be discarded and replaced with the revised version 22224 (2026-07).
• Open the lab bulletin.