Healthcare Providers

New CDC Zika Testing Guidance

Based on the current global epidemiology of Zika and dengue viruses, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended that state health departments and laboratories review and update their Zika virus testing practices. Routine serological testing for Zika virus is no longer recommended. Further details and changes that will affect the testing practices that we at the Alabama Department of Public Health recommend and provide are detailed below.

Provider Information and Guidance

• Update: New Zika and Dengue Testing Guidance
• Dengue and Zika virus diagnostic testing for patients with a clinically compatible illness and risk for infection with both viruses, June 14, 2019, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report
• Interim Guidance for Healthcare Providers Caring for Pregnant Women with Possible Zika Virus Exposure-United States, July 2017

Consultation and Testing ***New Process***

• Providers must complete the online consultation form to request approval for Zika virus testing through our public health laboratory. You will receive an immediate testing decision based on your responses and CDC's Zika testing guidance. Any provider with a scenario that has not been specifically addressed or with additional questions or concerns, may call the Infectious Diseases & Outbreaks Division at 1-800-338-8374 for consultation and assistance. The form can be accessed online.
• ADPH-BCL Requisition Form for Laboratory Testing (Fillable PDF)
• Form 50.34: CDC Specimen Submission Form: Specimens of Human Origin (Try using another brower, such as Internet Explorer, if Form 50.34 will not load.)

Zika Communication Toolkits - CDC Resources

These toolkits contain communication materials that can be tailored for various groups to use when preparing for local transmission of Zika virus in the United States.

• Zika Basics Toolkit
• Schools and Camps
• Colleges and Universities
• Community, Faith-Based, and Youth-Serving Organizations
• Healthcare Providers and Management
• Housing Management and Associations
• Outdoor Workers

Print Resources and Fact Sheets

• Zika Basics and How to Protect Yourself
  • English
  • Spanish
• Sexual Transmission
  
  • Zika and Sexual Transmission: For People Whose Partner Traveled to an Area with Risk of Zika
• Counseling Travelers
• When to Test for Zika
• Interpretation of Results of nucleic acid and antibody testing for suspected Zika virus infection

• Patient Information Fact Sheet for Males
• Patient Information Fact Sheet (If your Doctor suspects Microcephaly during pregnancy)
• Patient Information Fact Sheet (If your baby was born with Congenital Zika Syndrome)
• Patient Information Fact Sheet (If your baby may have been affected by Zika but has no related health conditions at birth)
• Patient Information Fact Sheet | en Español | em Português
• Fact Sheet for Health Care Providers: Interpreting Trioplex Real-Time RTPCR Assay (Trioplex rRT-PCR) Results

Information for Providers with Pregnant Women

• CDC Vital Signs: Protecting Pregnant Women and Babies
• MMWR: Zika Virus-Associate Birth Defects
• Clinical Guidance for Healthcare Providers Caring for Pregnant Women (CDC)
• List of Zika Pregnancy Outcomes-Brain Abnormalities and Other Adverse Outcomes
• MMWR publication: Description of 13 Infants Born During October 2015 - January 2016 With Congenital Zika Virus Infection Without Microencephaly at Birth - Brazil

For questions or concerns regarding insect-borne disease in Alabama, see Contact Us, or email us at entomology@adph.state.al.us