CDC Suspends Testing for Rabies, Monkeypox and Other Diseases

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has temporarily suspended diagnostic testing for rabies, monkeypox and more than two dozen other infectious diseases, a move that affects services previously provided to state and local public health laboratories across the United States.

The agency updated its test directory this week, removing the listed diagnostics from availability through its labs. Among the paused tests are those for poxviruses, which include monkeypox; rabies; Epstein-Barr virus; varicella zoster virus, which causes chickenpox and shingles; and rarer pathogens such as those behind snail fever and sloth fever. The CDC, the nation's primary disease-tracking agency, has offered such specialized testing for decades to support labs lacking the capacity to perform them independently.

Officials described the pause as part of a routine review to maintain high-quality laboratory standards, an evaluation process that began in 2024 following criticism of the agency's operations during the COVID-19 pandemic. "We anticipate some of these tests will be available through CDC labs again in the coming weeks," said Andrew Nixon, a spokesman for the Department of Health and...