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GM Test
Enteric Bacteriology
Submission Only by Local Health Departments and State Agencies
Submitted on patients who are complaining of possible food poisoning, diarrhea or
gastroenteritis, or by physician referral. Routine enteric culturing includes testing only for
Salmonella and Shigella. Other organisms implicated in foodborne outbreaks,
such as Campylobacter, Vibrio, Yersinia, E. coli O157:H7, etc., will be cultured
upon request. Suspect organisms must be indicated on request form.
- Collection Instructions
Carefully go over the following instructions with the patient so one proper specimen can be
obtained. A poorly collected specimen can result in an inability to assist you in making a
diagnosis.
- 1. Pass stool directly into paper collector provided. Do not allow urine to
come in contact with specimen.
- 2. Cary-Blair*transport medium is used for stool cultures.
Use sterile swabs to place stool specimen into Cary-Blair transport medium by dipping
swab into feces and collecting at least enough material to thoroughly soil the entire
swab tip. Push the swab(s) into the medium, break off protruding stick(s) and cap the
tube tightly.
Fecal material not pushed into Cary-Blair transport medium may be
unsatisfactory.
- 3. If the patient is unable to pass a stool, rectal swabs may be obtained and
placed into the medium, as described above. They must be soiled, as above.
- 4. Label tube of Cary-Blair with the patient's name and date of collection.
- 5. Instruct patient to dispose of remaining stool in toilet and dispose of collector by placing
it in a plastic garbage bag and then into the garbage.
- 6. Place Cary-Blair transport tube, wrapped in packing material, into the metal container.
This container, and the completed request form (outside of the metal container) are placed into
the cardboard mailing container. The specimen does not need to be shipped on ice, unless you
feel that it will take several days to be delivered and the season is hot.
- 7. Affix proper postage and MAIL PROMPTLY. Adhere to Federal shipping
regulations.
NOTE: Specimen must be sent within 24 hours of collection and must be received
within 4 days at OSPHL. Stool received more than 4 days after collection may not be
processed.
* Cary-Blair transport medium has a shelf life of one year and should be stored in the refrigerator.
Reports
Identification is performed Monday through Friday. Turnaround time is approximately 2-5
days.
- References
1. American Society for Microbiology, "Laboratory Diagnosis of Bacterial Diarrhea,"
Cumitech 12, October, 1980.
2. American Society for Microbiology, Manual of Clinical Microbiology, 1995.
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