|
Area |
Health Science |
|
Lab name |
Enteric Reference Laboratory |
|
Lab location |
Wallaceville Science Centre, Upper Hutt |
|
Test name |
Escherichia coli shiga-toxin gene detection and serotyping |
|
Organisms |
E. coli |
|
Requested for surveillance |
yes |
|
Notice required |
no |
|
Routine turnaround time |
10 days |
|
Sample requirements |
Pure culture. Mixed cultures may be referred for toxin testing if VTEC infection is suspected and the case meets the specimen requirement criteria |
|
Specimen requirements |
Serum (~1 mL) collected within 7 days of illness onset Urine (~50 mL) collected within 15 days of illness onset |
|
Media requirements |
Nutrient agar slope for cultures |
|
Pre-transport requirements |
Ambient temperature |
|
Transport requirements |
Ambient temperature |
|
Unacceptable sample types |
Mixed cultures will not be tested |
|
How results reported |
E. coli isolate with stx gene(s): Serotype, stx subtype, and eae and hylA gene presence reported. stx negative: the isolate will be reported as negative for verocytotoxin. confirmed toxin positive but not isolated: reported as verocytotoxin positive. |
|
Referral link |