Suitability of Commercial Transport Media for Biological Pathogens under Nonideal Conditions

There is extensive data to support the use of commercial transport media as a stabilizer for known clinical samples; however, there is little information to support their use outside of controlled conditions specified by the manufacturer. Furthermore, there is no data to determine the suitability of...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Kyle Hubbard, Gregory Pellar, Peter Emanuel
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2011-01-01
Series:International Journal of Microbiology
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2011/463096
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Summary:There is extensive data to support the use of commercial transport media as a stabilizer for known clinical samples; however, there is little information to support their use outside of controlled conditions specified by the manufacturer. Furthermore, there is no data to determine the suitability of said media for biological pathogens, specifically those of interest to the US military. This study evaluates commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) transport media based on sample recovery, viability, and quality of nucleic acids and peptides for nonpathogenic strains of Bacillus anthracis, Yersinia pestis, and Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus, in addition to ricin toxin. Samples were stored in COTS, PBST, or no media at various temperatures over an extended test period. The results demonstrate that COTS media, although sufficient for the preservation of nucleic acid and proteinaceous material, are not capable of maintaining an accurate representation of biothreat agents at the time of collection.
ISSN:1687-918X
1687-9198