OXOID SALMONELLA TEST KIT DR1108

OXOID SALMONELLA TEST KIT CODE: DR1108 Introduction The genus Salmonella consists of over 2400 serotypes which may cause acute infectious gastroenteritis frequently associated with food poisoning. Since many Salmonella species infect domestic animals, either clinically or subclinically, cases of Salmonella food poisoning usually originate from animal sources. In contrast, Salmonella typhi and Salmonella paratyphi only infect humans and cause enteric fever. Salmonellae are often present in a sample in small numbers, together with other Enterobacteriaceae. In order to promote the growth of Salmonella, enrichment and/or selective media are used, such as Rappaport Vassiliadis Medium broths for inducing motility and media containing selenite, deoxycholate or bismuth sulphite 1,2. The Oxoid Salmonella Test Kit is a rapid latex agglutination test for the presumptive identification of Salmonella in selective and/or enrichment cultures. The use of latex technology makes this test more sensitive than direct agglutination methods, so that use of the Oxoid Salmonella Test Kit permits identification of Salmonella at least 24 hours earlier than when using conventional techniques. The Oxoid Salmonella Test Kit is particularly suited to screening cultures due to the high predictive value of a negative result. When screening clinical specimens, these features enable decisions on appropriate patient management to be taken sooner. The kit is also ideal for screening samples in the food industry where prompt results minimise the delay associated with routine testing for Salmonella contamination. Principle of the Test Polyvalent antisera are prepared against a wide range of Salmonella flagellar antigens and used to coat latex particles. When mixed with a suspension of Salmonella containing these antigens, the latex particles rapidly agglutinate to form visible clumps. The Oxoid Salmonella Test Kit detects the majority of common Salmonella species including Salmonella typhimurium and