Laboratory Information

The CDC Meningitis Laboratory provides laboratory support for U.S. active population based surveillance for an overall population base of more than 30 million people for Neisseria meningitidis and Haemophilus influenzae. If you would like to find laboratory information about Streptococcus pneumoniae please see the Streptococcus Laboratory site.

CDC's national meningococcal laboratory surveillance data play a critical role in continuing efforts to combat meningococcal pathogens. Laboratory data, together with Active Bacterial Core surveillance (ABCs) meningococcal isolates, serve as a valuable resource for outside researchers.

The laboratory serves health departments throughout the U.S. in the characterization of meningococcal isolates for outbreak support and other public health concerns, and is also very active internationally. The lab is a well-recognized reference center for identification and characterization of Neisseria meningitidis and Haemophilus influenzae.

In addition to surveillance and reference activities, the lab is actively involved with specialized meningococcal research projects that have direct public health relevance, with numerous collaborators in academia and industry.

Reference Lab

The Meningitis Laboratory can offer advice concerning laboratory procedures dealing with bacterial meningitis. If you feel that your bacterial meningitis isolates have novel features with potential public health impact, the lab is glad to discuss ways to assist in characterizing these isolates. Suspected outbreaks should be reported to state or local health departments.

Unfortunately, the lab does not have the resources to perform typing or other characterization for all requests sent to CDC's Meningitis Laboratory. Therefore, requestors are asked to discuss with the lab, in advance, the reason for the request so that the resources can be allocated to type those isolates that will answer the most pressing public health questions. An outbreak is one example of a situation in which rapid serotyping has immediate value. Vaccine failures and serotype replacement have been well documented in the literature, and useful population based data is generated through the Active Bacterial Core surveillance.

The lab will provide typing or other tests only upon prior communication with a contact in the Meningitis Laboratory (contact below) indicating the reason for this service.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us by calling 1-800-CDC-INFO or e-mailing cdcinfo@cdc.gov and requesting to be put in touch with the Meningitis and Vaccine Preventable Diseases Branch.

Laboratory Methods for the Diagnosis of Meningitis

World Health Organization (WHO) Manual: Laboratory Methods for the Diagnosis of Meningitis caused by Neisseria meningitidis, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Haemophilus influenzae

This manual summarizes laboratory techniques used in the isolation and identification and characterization of Neisseria meningitidis (the meningococcus), Streptococcus pneumoniae (the pneumococcus) and Haemophilus influenzae from the cerebrospinal fluid or blood of patients with clinical meningitis or bacteremia. The procedures described in this manual are not new; most have been used for many years. Even though they require an array of laboratory capabilities, these procedures were selected because of their utility, ease of performance, and ability to give reproducible results. The diversity of laboratory capabilities, the availability of materials and supplies, and their cost, were taken into account. In addition to these basic procedures, methods for subtyping and biotyping of these organisms are included for reference laboratories that have the facilities, the trained personnel, and the desire to perform them.

• Lab Methods of Diagnosis of Meningitis - WHO/CDS/CSR/EDC/99/7/EN
  Laboratory methods for the diagnosis of meningitis caused by Neisseria meningitidis, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Haemophilus influenzae.
  • Figures (612 KB, 29 pages)


• Manual for the laboratory identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing of bacterial pathogens of public health concern in the developing world – WHO/CDS/CSR/RMD/2003.6
  Pertinent sections include chapters 1-5 and some appendixes. Manual for the laboratory identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing of bacterial pathogens of public health concern in the developing world.

Pathogens Studied at the CDC Meningitis Laboratory

• Neisseria meningitidis
• Haemophilus influenzae