Testing Resources for Measles

As a reminder for AMP Members, feel free to use the CHAMP community when you have questions for your AMP colleagues regarding measles.

MEASLES Outbreak Updates

Measles Cases and Outbreaks – United States (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; CDC)

Measles Cases and Outbreaks – United States (Spanish, CDC)

Global Measles Outbreaks (CDC)

The Global Health Observatory: Measles - number of reported cases (World Health Organization; WHO)

Expanding Measles Outbreak in the U.S. and Guidance for the Upcoming Travel Season (CDC)

Healthcare Providers: Stay Alert for Measles Cases (CDC, April 2025)

ContagionLive Measles Article (March 2025)

CDC Partners with Laboratories for Readiness and Response

Measles (4/19/2025) ESF-8 Virtual Medical Operation Center Special Report (Yale School of Public Health)

LABORATORY RESOURCES

Specimen Collection, Storage, and Shipment (CDC)

Laboratory Testing (CDC)

Collecting and shipping specimens from suspected measles cases:

• CDC recommends that either a nasopharyngeal swab, throat swab, or urine specimen as well as a blood specimen be collected from all patients with clinical features compatible with measles.
• Nasopharyngeal or throat swabs are preferred over urine specimens.

For U.S. patient specimens:

• Please contact your state or local health department to determine where to submit specimens and how to ship them.

• The CDC Infectious Diseases Laboratories provide guidance for measles specimen collection, storage, and shipment. Refer to the Infectious Diseases Laboratories Test Directory entry for each test for instructions on specimen collection, storage, and shipment as well as points of contact for the tests.

• Serology (serum specimen collection)
  Measles Serology (Test CDC-10244)
  Measles Avidity (Test CDC-10248) *currently unavailable

• Real-time RT-PCR (nasopharyngeal, throat swabs, and urine specimens)
  Measles Detection (Test CDC-10543)
  Measles Vaccine Virus Detection (Test CDC-10528)

• Specimens submitted for testing from within the U.S. must be accompanied by CDC Form 50.34. Submitters are encouraged to use the CDC Specimen Test Order and Reporting (CSTOR) Web Portal to submit specimens.

For International Specimens:

• For international submissions, please contact Dr. Paul Rota, Dr. Bettina Bankamp or Dr. Stephen Crooke.
• For international shipments, refer to the Infectious Diseases Laboratories Test Directory entry for each test, see links above.

Test Types Typically Available to Clinicians and Descriptions for Measles, Mumps, Rubella, and Varicella (Clinician-facing testing handout / fact sheet; CDC)

State & Territorial Health Department Websites (CDC)

Genetic Analysis of Measles Viruses (CDC)

WHO Manual for the Laboratory-based Surveillance of Measles, Rubella, and Congenital Rubella Syndrome (WHO)

OTHER RESOURCES

American Red Cross Measles & Rubella Partnership

American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

• What You Need to Know About Recent U.S. Measles Cases
• Measles and Immune Amnesia
• Measles Vaccination and Infection: Questions and Misconceptions
• Diagnosing Measles in the Post-Elimination Era

Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL)

• Vaccine Preventable Diseases
• Vaccine Preventable Diseases Reference Centers (VPD RC) perform molecular testing for seven VPDs (measles, mumps, rubella, varicella zoster virus, Bordetella pertussis, Haemophilus influenzae and Neisseria meningitidis) on behalf of other public health laboratories that have enrolled as submitting sites. List of VPD RC services, including specimen types and turnaround times
• Enrolled Public Health Laboratory Reference Center assignments – Viral and Bacterial

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

• Measles diagnosis fact sheet (English)
• Measles diagnosis fact sheet (Spanish)
• Traveling Abroad? Check If You’re Protected Against Measles
• For Healthcare Providers

Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA)

• Measles Vaccination: Know the Facts

World Health Organization (WHO)

• Measles
• Measles fact sheet
• Global Measles and Rubella Laboratory Network