Collecting specimens for virus disease diagnosis

FOR the effective control of virus diseases a diagnosis should be established with a minimum of delay. The clinical signs of several virus diseases are pathognomonic and in view of the expense of diagnostic virology, laboratory confirmation may be considered unnecessary. There are occasions, however, when the clinician may wish to confirm his diagnosis either because of the economic importance of the disease or because he is unable to establish an unequivocal diagnosis. Routine diagnostic virology is a relatively young laboratory discipline and many clinicians have received little formal education on the subject; understandably, they are uncertain of the range of diagnostic procedures available, and more importantly what is expected of them when they seek the assistance of a virology laboratory.