The field of infectious disease diagnostics is ever changing with both newly identified infections such as SARS, Ebola, and Zika virus as well as yearly epidemics and potential for pandemic with pathogens that constantly circulate among us such as Influenza.  The ability of the laboratory to quickly respond to outbreak situations is critical.  This talk will provide an overview of the processes involved in developing, validating and implementing new diagnostic tests in the time sensitive setting of infectious disease outbreaks.