viral and rickettsial disease laboratory

VRDL Specimen Shipping Guidelines and Current Specimen Submittal Forms

Specimen Shipping Guidelines

Submit one form per specimen. Specimens without a correctly filled submittal form will not be tested.
Prevent leaking. Be sure that the primary specimen container is closed tightly.
Use an appropriate, sealed secondary bag or container with absorbent material included.
Do not apply tape to secondary bags. Do not tape specimens or bags together.
Handwritten General Purpose Specimen Submittal forms will not be accepted.

Note: In order to ensure accurate patient and specimen identification, the submitter must provide the following information:

Patient name or patient identification number (must also be written on sample container)
Date of birth
Date of onset (estimate if necessary, since this is very important to result interpretation)
Type of specimen(s) (must also be written on sample container
Date specimen was collected (must also be written on sample container)

Specimen Submittal Forms

General

Gastroenteritis

Hantavirus

When submitting Hantavirus specimens, open these two links and fill out BOTH forms

Rabies: Animal

Respiratory

Retrovirus

Vaccine Preventable

If you are having difficulty accessing the General Purpose Specimen Submittal Form please contact CDPH at (510) 307-8585 to request this information in an alternate format. We are currently in the process of converting this document to ADA web accessible formats.