FOREWORD 
A reliable laboratory report as an aid in the diagnosis of disease depends upon the care and thought used in 
the collection, handling, and transport of specimens. Too often physicians and other medical or public health 
personnel are only generally familiar with the problems and procedures involved in obtaining and submit- 
ting material for laboratory examination. 
The objective of this manual is to present procedures which, in the opinion of the staff of the National 
Communicable Disease Center — who authored the various sections — have been found to be practical and 
productive. Other methods may be equally satisfactory, however, and may, at times, be substituted for 
those described. In any case, whenever laboratory examinations are to be carried out in local or State 
laboratories, methods acceptable to these laboratories should be used. 
It is of utmost importance that the purpose of a procedure for handling a specimen be kept in mind. Thus, 
for example, the safest and most expeditious method of transporting specimens to a diagnostic laboratory 
may be by automobile rather than by mail or express, thus obviating the need for elaborate packaging. In 
contrast, forwarding specimens to a reference library by mail requires procedures which insure viability of 
the infectious agent and provide maximum protection to those handling the shipment in transit. 
Use of trade names is for identification only and does not constitute endorsement by the Public Health Service or the 
U. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. 
