Help & FAQs

Available since November 1, 2021, the upgraded CDC 50.34 Specimen Submission Form is an offline, standalone desktop application built exclusively on open-source technologies. It provides enhanced capabilities, such as automated, in-app updates, while preserving the ability to generate static PDF submission forms accessible by any standard PDF viewer application.

A completed CDC 50.34 Specimen Submission Form must be supplied with each specimen received at CDC (i.e., one specimen per form). If a submitter is sending in a large number of specimens, the submitter may work with a CDC laboratory to submit specimens using a batch form.

You can see the latest update by looking at the bottom right of the form for the version number and expiration date. The form will be reviewed frequently for updates and will receive a new version number and expiration date each time it is updated. If an update is required when the form is opened, the form will automatically update, as long as the form has been downloaded to the computer and the computer is connected to the internet.

The Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) is targeting communications through their Infectious Diseases committees. For major upgrades, please check the CDC Specimen Submission website or reach out to the Association for Public Health Laboratories (APHL).

Both the State Public Health Laboratories and the CDC laboratories should educate submitters that an upgraded form is required for submissions. Announcements were posted to the ASM listservs (DivC and ClinMicroNet) to inform clinical laboratories about the CDC 50.34 Specimen Submission Form and that they should contact their SPHLs if they are authorized to send specimens directly to CDC.

Hospitals should not send their specimens directly to CDC unless the SPHL authorizes this for a special study, outbreak, or urgent request. If a specimen or isolate is labile, then sending it directly to CDC may be necessary. If a SPHL wants a clinical laboratory to submit their specimen directly, the SPHL should fill out their contact information and standardized institution email address on the form and provide this as a template for the clinical lab to use. Providing this contact information will ensure results get sent back to the SPHL, who can capture this data and then send the results back to the clinical laboratory. A SPHL can provide this template for clinical labs to use up until the form expires.

No, you should send both forms with your specimen. Laboratory-specific forms are needed by some CDC laboratories in addition to the CDC 50.34 Specimen Submission Form to perform certain tests. When those test orders are selected on the CDC 50.34 Specimen Submission Form, a link will appear as a reminder that an additional form or approval is required.

Submitters must reprint both pages of the form to ensure that the updated information gets encoded into the appropriate barcode(s), and to ensure the linkage between the barcodes is maintained.

You can download the form on the Specimen Submission Form webpage.

No. The CDC 50.34 Specimen Submission Form is designed to be filled out electronically, printed and sent to CDC along with a sample. The CDC 50.34 Specimen Submission Form should not be sent via unsecure email because of PII data.

For more information about electronic submission through the CDC Specimen Test Order and Reporting (CSTOR) Web Portal, please visit this webpage.

Completed specimen submission forms are available to the staff who are involved in the submission of the specimen(s), which include epidemiologists.

CDC 50.34 Specimen Submission Form information is validated and encoded in the barcodes when the form is printed. The barcode is hidden until the minimally required fields are completed on the form.

No. Printing the form on a black/white or color printer are both acceptable.

Yes, the expiration alerts are built directly into the CDC 50.34 Specimen Submission Form and will appear when a user opens an expiring form on their computer.

Yes, CDC recognizes that a SPHL’s points of contact may vary per submission, and therefore CDC can store multiple points of contact for each submitting organization. In contrast, there should only be one Laboratory Director for each SPHL.

A formal request will need to be submitted to the Infectious Diseases Specimen Submission (IDSS) Help Desk (404-639-2176 locally or 1-855-612-7575 toll-free) to inform CDC of the change to the SPHL information.

Yes. If they are the original submitter of a specimen, then local and county public health laboratories would fill out the original submitter box when submitting the CDC 50.34 Specimen Submission Form. The state public health laboratory can assist in completing the SPHL submitter information for local and county public health laboratories that have permission to submit directly to CDC.

Yes, saved SPHL submitter information is retained when changing the specimen origin (e.g., switching the form from human to animal).

International submitters should fill out the Original Submitter block with their information and then complete the rest of the form as appropriate. Please note that an Original Submitter ‘Institutional email’ must be provided, and the top submitter box may be left blank. If language is a barrier to completing the form, the submitter must contact an appropriate CDC laboratory to establish a process for submitting specimens to CDC.

Only one test order code/name can be entered on the CDC 50.34 Specimen Submission Form. It should be noted that these fields are drop-down values on the form and a test order may encompass a panel of multiple tests.

The field ‘Specimen Source Modifier’ allows you to say if the specimen is acute or convalescent. To note what it is paired to, or if it is part of a set, a submitter could use the ‘Brief Clinical Summary,’ or ‘Previous Laboratory Results’ fields to denote this information. Both fields are located on the second page of the form. The Extent area on the second page of the form allows you to define a particular outbreak if that is the case.

The submitter should select the blank entry in the drop-down list.

No, there is no capability to populate the CDC 50.34 Specimen Submission Form from a LIMS, spreadsheet, or database. However, submitters can populate some information on the CDC 50.34 Specimen Submission Form when using the CDC Specimen Test Order and Reporting (CSTOR) Web Portal. Through CSTOR’s Batch Upload feature, submitters can import an Excel spreadsheet from their LIMS into the CSTOR application for specimen submission. If your file does not contain the accepted system column headers, you can map your original column headers to CSTOR column headers and then save the order as a template for future use.

Comments should be added to the field labeled ‘Previous Laboratory Results / Comments,’ located on the back of the form.

Submitters can only order tests that are contained within the current Test Directory. Submitters may view the most current list of available tests by visiting the Test Directory site.

A test order name may encompass a single test or a panel of multiple tests. A submitter may obtain more detailed information about what tests may be performed to complete the order from the CDC Points of Contact listed at the bottom of each test order.

For additions and/or deletions to test orders, the directory will be updated concurrently with updates made to the CDC 50.34 Specimen Submission Form; however, there are special cases where additions and/or deletions can be incorporated outside of a scheduled update. Edits to current test orders will be made on a more routine basis, as necessary. Changes can be identified via the corresponding version number for each test order. The full downloadable Test Directory catalog will also be regularly updated.

If there is a question about the data content contained on a CDC laboratory report, please contact the point of contact listed on the report. If there is a question about the delivery of the report, or a question about the encryption on a report, please contact the IDSS Help Desk by email or by phone 1-855-612-7575.

The CDC ID laboratory reporting process has been enhanced to provide electronic lab reports through secure email (i.e., eReporting). These reports will be sent as encrypted PDF files via secure password protection. Passwords are provided to institutions participating in the eReporting process and are unique to each institution. All eReports will be sent from the CDC email address CDCIDLabReports@cdc.gov. CDC will continue to send hardcopy reports as needed.

Preliminary, final, amended, and corrected reports are all eligible to be sent as an eReport.

SPHLs and those that have agreed to participate in the eReporting process will receive eReports.

For submitters participating in eReporting, a password will be provided to each institution. The password will be used to access every eReport sent from CDCIDLabReports@cdc.gov. If a password is lost or stolen, the submitter can contact the IDSS Help Desk by email or by phone 1-855-612-7575.

Yes! The eReports are linked to the submitter information provided on the form. It is essential that the submitter uses the correct institutional email address provided to CDC as part of their standardized submitter address information.

At this time, not all CDC laboratories have the capability to send eReports. Affected CDC laboratories will continue to send hard copy reports to submitters.

CDC Laboratory eReports will be sent out twice daily from the CDCIDLabReports@cdc.gov email address.

The CDCIDLabReports@cdc.gov email address that delivered the eReport will receive a delivery failure message for recipient email addresses that no longer exist. The CDC laboratory distributing the report will contact the institution to follow up with regard to the actions that need to take place.

No. The eReporting process does not support a systematic re-send of a previously distributed eReport. If a submitter wishes to request an additional copy of a distributed eReport from CDC, the submitter should contact the laboratory point of contact on the report to request a hard copy of the report. A report that was previously sent as an eReport can only be sent out again through the eReporting process as amended or corrected reports; otherwise, a hard copy will be sent to the submitter. If a user submits specimens using CSTOR, they will receive electronic reports in CSTOR. In addition, reports within CSTOR can be accessed at any time and downloaded without having to contact the CDC laboratory to resend.