Procedures for collecting surface environmental samples for culturing Bacillus anthracis

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.)
• Description:
  Thursday, November 15, 2001, 22:55 EST (10:55 PM EST)
  
  CDCHAN-00054 -2001-11-15-ADV–N
  
  The decision to collect environmental samples for culturing Bacillus anthracis should be made by medical, environmental, and industrial hygiene professionals familiar with the organism and with the environmental sampling methodologies described in this document. This decision should be based on the nature and location of the suspected contamination, the medical diagnoses and opinions, the potential for the contaminant to migrate, and the activity for which the facility is used, following a pre-planned sampling strategy. Representatives from local, state, and federal agencies should be consulted during the decision-making process.
  
  Environmental sampling can be used to help determine the extent and degree of contamination, to support decisions regarding the need for cleanup, and to provide guidance regarding when cleanup is adequate to permit re-entry into an area. The use of experienced investigators to conduct the environmental sampling will provide the best probability of locating and identifying B. anthracis spores if present.
  
  Currently, no environmental exposure standards exist for B. anthracis spores. Investigators who review and interpret the results of environmental sampling for such spores must consider these uncertainties and use professional judgment in interpreting any positive or negative findings.
  
  Event Type: anthrax terrorism event
  
  Context: environmental sampling
  
  Event Type: Man-made
  
  Agent Type: bacteria
  
  Specify Agent (Name): anthrax
  
  International: no
  
  Intentional/Unintentional: intentional
  
  
• Subjects:
  Bacillus Anthracis/isolation & Purification Environmental Exposure Environmental Microbiology Environmental Monitoring/methods Equipment Contamination Specimen Handling/methods Spores, Bacterial/isolation & Purification
• Source:
  HAN ; 054
• Series:
  Health Alert Network
• Document Type:
  HAN Health Advisory
• Place as Subject:
  United States
• Pages in Document:
  5 unnumbered pages
• Issue:
  54
• Collection(s):
  Health Alert Network (HAN)
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:c6bcd98491e239cbac8d1be9ecf117f3343199b3609a85ab4eec8e6996dd948e1e95a48511b95312088e182fcc2469132f529789cd8a4c639f9787cdbfa7f4cc
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/24967/cdc_24967_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 710.07 KB ]