title: Growth characteristics of Bacillus anthracis compared to other Bacillus spp. on the selective nutrient media Anthrax Blood Agar and Cereus Ident Agar.
abstract: Anthrax Blood Agar (ABA) and Cereus Ident Agar (CEI) were evaluated as selective growth media for the isolation of Bacillus anthracis using 92 B. anthracis and 132 other Bacillus strains from 30 species. The positive predictive values for the identification of B. anthracis on ABA, CEI, and the combination of both were 72%, 71%, and 90%, respectively. Thus, less than 10% of all species were misidentified using both nutrient media. Species which might be misidentified as B. anthracis were B. cereus, B. mycoides, and B. thuringiensis. Particularly, 30% of B. weihenstephanensis strains were misidentified as B. anthracis.
authors.affiliation: Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology, Neuherbergstrasse 11, D-80937 Munich, Germany. HerbertTomaso@bundeswehr.org
authors.forename: Herbert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tomaso
authors.forename: Carsten
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bartling
authors.forename: Sascha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Al Dahouk
authors.forename: Ralf M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Hagen
authors.forename: Holger C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Scholz
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Beyer
authors.forename: Heinrich
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Neubauer
mesh_terms: D000362:Agar; D000881:Anthrax / Q000382:microbiology; D001408:Bacillus anthracis / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques / Q000379:methods; D003470:Culture Media; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media; D000362:Agar