Test Order

Human

Pure culture isolates of bacteria demonstrating unusual resistance or unusual isolates on which the submitter cannot perform susceptibility testing.

Not Applicable

Store pure culture isolates at room temperature (15-25 °C) for up to 7 days or at refrigerated temperature (2-8 °C) up to 14 days.

Isolates being stored more than 14 days should be frozen (-20 °C or lower). Ship isolates as soon as possible to ensure viability and to avoid loss of antimicrobial resistance mechanisms.

Transport pure culture isolates at room temperature (15-25 °C) or refrigerated (2-8 °C) on trypticase soy agar (TSA); heart or brain-heart infusion agar (HIA or BHIA); blood agar or chocolate agar.

Transport frozen (-20 °C or lower) submissions in trypticase soy broth (TSB) plus 15% glycerol.

Test subject to CLIA regulations and requires two primary patient identifiers (e.g., patient first and last name, date of birth, unique patient identifier from time of collection, such as medical record number) on the specimen container and on the test requisition.

CDC does not accept routine shipments on weekends or holidays. Please make sure packages arrive Monday – Friday. Ship submissions overnight. Refrigerated samples should be shipped with refrigerated or frozen cold packs. Frozen samples should be shipped frozen with dry ice.

Ship To:
[Insert CDC Point of Contact]
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
RDSB/STATT Unit 13
1600 Clifton Road, NE
Atlanta, GA 30329
[Insert CDC Point of Contact’s Telephone Number]

All samples must be shipped in accordance with all applicable local, state and federal regulations. Upon shipment, submitter should send an email to the CDC POC providing shipping company, shipped date and package tracking number.

broth microdilution (BMD), disk diffusion, molecular detection of antimicrobial resistance markers, additional phenotypic testing

3 Weeks

Pure culture isolates must be viable for testing. It is recommended that Streptococcus pneumoniae, Neisseria meningitidis, and Haemophilus influenzae be stored at room temperature (15-25 °C) to ensure isolate viability.

If a healthcare facility will be submitting samples directly to CDC they must receive prior approval from the State Health Department. If submitting pure culture isolate(s) for testing, the original culture/isolate/inoculum should be maintained by the submitter until results are reported, indicating that CDC testing is completed.

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