A transport medium for specimens containing Pasteurella pestis.

A medium, originally designed by Stuart and co-workers and later modified by Cary & Blair, for the maintenance and transport, without multiplication, of pathogenic bacteria contained in bacteriological specimens was tested in the laboratory and in the field in Viet-Nam to determine its effectiveness in preserving specimens known to contain Pasteurella pestis.The results indicate that this medium should be useful in diagnostic plague studies in areas where transport facilities are inadequate. Properly collected clinical specimens, sent to a central laboratory by any means and under any climatic conditions likely to be encountered in the hot tropics, should yield viable Pasteurella pestis for at least 30 days.