NEWS & EVENTS

NEWS ARCHIVE | EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES

TESTING PROTOCOL:
Anthrax Screening & Specimens for Culture

A number of questions from our clients prompt this brief summary. Please feel free to call or email PRL with further questions.

The Missouri Department of Health and the CDC DO NOT recommend the use of nasal swabs for diagnosis of anthrax exposure. Nasal swabs are used as an epidemiological tool ONLY. Therefore, we STRONGLY discourage submission of these specimens for screening purposes. However, many physicians and patients may request a Nasal Swab for SCREENING only.

Nasal Swabs submitted for screening must be kept dry. DO NOT CRUSH the transport media ampule. Deliver to Laboratory ASAP for culture set-up.

Include ALL clinical information when submitting specimen to the laboratory.

CUTANEOUS ANTHRAX

Please follow the guidelines listed below for submitting specimens for culture of Cutaneous Anthrax:

• Tissue should be placed in a sterile screw-cap container and kept cold (frozen if possible) for transport to the laboratory.
• Sterile dacron or rayon swabs should be saturated in vesicular fluid from a previously unopened vesicle and placed in a sterile screw-cap container and delivered to the laboratory ASAP. Specimens should be kept COLD.

INHALATION ANTHRAX

Please follow the guidelines listed below for submitting specimens for diagnositc purposes of Inhalation Anthrax:

• Specimens submitted for testing are based on the patient's clinical symptoms.
• Sputum, respiratory specimens (bronchial washings), CSF and blood are appropriate and must be submitted in sterile screw-cap containers and delivered to the laboratory ASAP. It is best to keep these specimens COLD.

NOTE: A stool specimen is appropriate for gastrointestinal anthrax and should be transported COLD or FROZEN to the lab.

Physicians Reference Laboratory, LLC
November, 2001