Who May Submit Specimens

State health departments and other federal agencies may submit specimens for reference testing to CDC. With state health department approval, private healthcare providers, hospitals, and laboratories may submit specimens directly to CDC via the CDC Specimen Test Order and Reporting (CSTOR) Web Portal. All specimen submissions to CDC must receive approval by the individual state health department, unless specific tests have been pre-approved in CSTOR. 

If a local health department is unable to determine where and how to submit a specimen, they should forward the specimen to their state health department. 

There are currently two methods for submitters to submit specimens to CDC for testing:

1. The CDC Test Order and Reporting (CSTOR) Web Portal (preferred)
2. The CDC 50.34 Specimen Submission Form

State and Local Health Departments

State and Territorial Public Health Officials 

State and Territorial Public Health Laboratories