Quality control performance in a provincial veterinary diagnostic microbiology laboratory system.

A quality control exercise was carried out in a provincial laboratory system to assess the performance of nine bacteriology technologists working in six laboratories. A group of ten mock specimens were distributed to each participant. Identification of all organisms and antibiotic susceptibility testing of pathogens was requested. Of the 117 organisms distributed, 104 were correctly identified, five were incorrectly identified and eight were not reported. Overall less than 1% very major errors, less than 5% major errors and less than 10% minor errors were observed in the antibiotic susceptibility testing. Most frequent errors were associated with penicillins, aminoglycosides, polymyxin, tetracycline and fastidious organisms.