At a glance
- Malaria is a reportable disease in the United States and its territories.
- Healthcare providers must report all cases of laboratory-confirmed malaria in the U.S. to local or state health departments.
Reporting
CDC defines a Nationally Notifiable Disease as any disease that when diagnosed requires health providers (usually by law) to report that case of disease to state or local public health officials. Malaria is a Nationally Notifiable Disease in all U.S. states and territories. Reports including epidemiological and clinical information on malaria cases diagnosed in the U.S. are transmitted to CDC through the National Malaria Surveillance System (NMSS).
CDC provides a malaria case surveillance report form with directions:
Please complete this fillable PDF form electronically and submit via secure email to CDC Malaria Branch malariasurveillance@cdc.gov, or to your local or state health department. For more information regarding the malaria surveillance system, or assistance in completing the form, please call or email the Malaria Branch at 770-488-7788 or toll-free at 855-856-4713, or malaria@cdc.gov.
Laboratory Testing
Laboratories that have diagnosed a case of malaria should send a pre-treatment whole blood sample (EDTA) to CDC for species confirmation. This testing is provided free of charge and CDC will send results back to the submitter. Submitting laboratories should email parasiteslab@cdc.gov for additional instructions. Specimens may also be submitted for surveillance of emerging drug resistance by contacting malarialab@cdc.gov