Laboratory Sample Submission Information

Overview

The Mycotic Diseases Branch offers clinical mycology testing of patient samples (i.e., specimens or isolates).

We can:

Accept samples only from state and local public health department laboratories and laboratories outside the United States.
Conduct laboratory testing for individual patients or for investigations of fungal disease outbreaks.
Help you select the most appropriate sample type or test type and assist with interpreting laboratory results.

Our laboratory offers identification of mold and yeast isolates, fungal serological testing, and whole genome sequencing.

All submissions to the Mycotic Diseases Branch Laboratory must:

Include an approved CDC submission document (Table 1).
Meet the minimum acceptable criteria for the submission document and the specimen/isolate label (Table 2).

If the two criteria above are not met, testing may be delayed or the submission may be rejected.

Table 1: Approved CDC submission documents

Table 1: Approved CDC submission documents
CDC Form 50.34	Global File Accessioning Template (GFAT)	CDC Specimen Test Order and Reporting (CSTOR)
Used to log single submissions. Must be completed electronically. Access the form here and instructions for completing form here. Includes a copy of completed form with shipment.	Used to log multiple submissions. Must be sent electronically to your CDC point of contact before your submission arrives. Include a copy of the GFAT inside the shipment. Contact your lab’s CDC point of contact for the most updated version of this file.	Used to submit specimen data. Must be completed electronically. Specimen data validated prior to submission (i.e., missing information) and can be uploaded directly into LIMS. Can view and download results securely online. Contact cstor@cdc.gov for more information.

Table 2: Minimum acceptable criteria for submission documents and specimen/isolate labels

Table 2: Minimum acceptable criteria for submission documents and specimen/isolate labels
	Submission document (CDC Form 50.34 or GFAT)	Specimen/isolate label
At least two unique identifiers (IDs). These IDs can be personally identifiable information (PII) but only if indicated acceptable by your CDC point of contact. If PII is not indicated, do not include medical record numbers or other PII. We suggest instead creating two unique IDs that are linked to, but distinct from patient information. Both IDs on the submission document must match the IDs on the specimen/isolate label.	✔	✔
Collection date. This should be the date of specimen collection, not the date of subculture or receipt from another institution.	✔
State (if United States) or country (if international) of patient origin.	✔

Please note:

External package labeling

External package labeling
For serological submissions: ATTN: Dr. Elizabeth Berkow 1600 Clifton Rd. DASH Unit 37 Attn: MDB Fungal Diseases Laboratory Atlanta, GA 30329	For all other submissions: ATTN: Dr. Elizabeth Berkow 1600 Clifton Rd. DASH Unit 40 Attn: MDB Fungal Diseases Laboratory Atlanta, GA 30329

Page last reviewed: December 8, 2020