Attachment E- Email Introduction Letter

Attachment E: Email Introduction Letter

Initial Email (to be sent on Day 1)

Attn: Laboratory Official

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is collecting data to estimate the annual number of Nocardia isolates submitted to public health laboratories in the United States. CDC’s Special Bacterial Reference Laboratory (SBRL) has seen a decline in Nocardia submissions in recent years, so the CDC is soliciting input from each state health department about the number of Nocardia samples processed annually to understand the reason for the decline. We are contacting you to engage your laboratory in a short assessment about the number of Nocardia isolates your laboratory received in 2015, your current testing procedures and technologies, and to determine how often you are performing these tests.

If you are willing to participate, please follow the link below to complete the assessment by (Date 4 weeks from initial email to be input here). This assessment is completely voluntary and should take no longer than 10 minutes to complete. All data will be kept secure and shared in aggregate form. We appreciate your time and feedback in helping us to better assess the burden of Nocardia disease in the United States.

If you have any questions or concerns about the assessment, please contact us by replying to this email.

(Insert web link here)

Thank you,

Shannon Cooney

Special Bacteriology Reference Laboratory

Bacterial Special Pathogens Branch

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

MPH candidate | Epidemiology

Emory Rollins School of Public Health