Mycotic Diseases Branch: Laboratory Submission Information

The Mycotic Diseases Branch offers a comprehensive service for the diagnosis, management and prevention of fungal infections through the provision of specialist laboratory services and expert clinical, epidemiologic and scientific advice.

Epidemiologic services

We can provide expert advice on the conduct of epidemiologic investigation of outbreaks of fungal infection, as well as guidance on the prevention of these infections, and clinical management of individual cases. Please contact us at:

Phone: 1-800-CDC-INFO

Laboratory services

We accept specimens from state public health department laboratories as well as laboratories outside the United States.

We can provide advice to ensure selection of the most appropriate test or specimen types for particular patients and assist with the interpretation of laboratory results. Please contact us at:

Phone: 1-800-CDC-INFO

If you wish to send us specimens or cultures, please contact us at:

Mycotic Diseases Branch
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
1600 Clifton Road NE, Mailstop G-11
Atlanta, GA 30333
USA

Identification of cultures

• Molds (including dermatophytes)
• Yeasts
• Dimorphic fungal pathogens including
  • Blastomyces dermatitidis
  • Coccidioides immitis
  • Histoplasma capsulatum

Please send pure cultures on slants not plates. Please note that isolates from sterile body sites receive a higher prioritization for identification to species level than isolates from non-sterile or less-significant sites (eg. yeasts from sputum, yeasts and molds from catheter urine or stool).

Serodiagnostic tests for infections caused by:

• Blastomyces dermatitidis
• Coccidioides immitis
• Histoplasma capsulatum
• Paracoccidioides brasiliensis
• Sporothrix schenckii

Please give us the appropriate clinical information. This is especially important if interpretation is required.

Sending samples for laboratory testing

All samples should be securely packed conforming to current regulations and sent together with a request form. Please ensure that this has your address and telephone number (if you require an urgent result).

Telediagnosis service

The Mycotic Diseases Branch is now able to offer an electronic service for the identification of pathgenic fungi. To utilize this service, e-mail to the CDC images of fungal culture plates, and/or microscopic images of slide cultures or other stained microscopic preparations. The e-mail address for this service is: fdx@cdc.gov.

The staff of the Mycotic Diseases Branch will be able to receive and view these images, and offer assistance in identification and diagnosis.