Chagas disease is among a list of infectious diseases for which testing via the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) laboratories has been temporarily paused as of December 12, 2024, according to the CDC website.
"CDC's commitment to lab quality and efficiency involves continuous system review and improvement," a CDC spokesperson told Medscape Medical News in an interview. "CDC routinely reviews the tests maintained by its laboratories to uphold that commitment and to enhance the quality of laboratory testing. As part of this review process, CDC has paused some tests while these reviews and changes are made," the spokesperson said.
Chagas disease is a parasitic infection; acute cases can be diagnosed through microscopic examination of blood to detect the parasites. Chagas disease occurs most often in rural parts of Mexico and Central and South America, where it is spread by triatomine bugs that carry the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, according to the CDC.
However, movement of people from endemic areas to the United States and elsewhere has increased the potential for spread of the infection through blood transfusion and organ transplants and from pregnant women to their newborns.
According to the World Health Organization, Chagas disease's initial symptoms are generally nonspecific and may include fever, headache, and swollen lymph glands, as well as pallor, muscle pain, difficulty breathing, swelling, and abdominal or chest pain.
The condition can be fatal without treatment, according to the CDC website. Therefore, the need for Chagas disease testing can be especially urgent in certain cases, such as posttransplant patients and newborns who may be at increased risk.
"CDC is also reviewing our greater infectious disease diagnostic testing portfolio, which includes more than 500 tests, and working to determine whether to discontinue some of these tests because similar testing options are available through other sources like state public health laboratories or commercial entities," the spokesperson told MedscapeMedical News.
"When determining whether to add or remove diagnostic tests from our portfolio, CDC carefully considers public health needs, resources available, and the availability of alternative testing options from public health agencies, commercial entities, or other laboratories," the spokesperson said. "CDC also may temporarily take a test offline to implement improvements in test quality, ordering, and data generation," they added.
In 2021, the CDC suspended all but three diagnostic testing services for parasitic diseases (Chagas disease, morphologic identification of parasites, and morphologic identification of malaria parasites) according to an editorial in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
CDC is communicating with public health partners about affected tests and identifying alternative testing providers if needed, and CDC subject matter experts are available for consultation, the CDC spokesperson said. A current list of CDC laboratory tests and the status is available on the CDC Infectious Disease Test Directory. No information was provided about when or whether Chagas disease testing or other suspended tests would be resumed.