Recovery efficiencies of anthrax spores and ricin from nonporous or nonabsorbent and porous or absorbent surfaces by a variety of sampling methods*.

The 2001 anthrax letter cases brought into focus the need to establish the most effective environmental sampling procedures. Results are presented from two studies aimed at establishing the best procedures for everyday surfaces likely to be contaminated after the release of environmentally stable bioaggressive agents, as exemplified by anthrax spores and ricin. With anthrax spores, contact plates, with mean retrieval rates of 28-54%, performed better than other methods by a wide margin for flat nonporous, nonabsorbent surfaces.

MICs of selected antibiotics for Bacillus anthracis, Bacillus cereus, Bacillus thuringiensis, and Bacillus mycoides from a range of clinical and environmental sources as determined by the Etest.

This paper presents Etest determinations of MICs of selected antimicrobial agents for 76 isolates of Bacillus anthracis chosen for their diverse histories and 67, 12, and 4 cultures, respectively, of its close relatives B. cereus, B. thuringiensis, and B.