Microbiologist, March 2012

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either plated or liquid media. Our in-house Selectrol® quality control testing laboratory is UKAS accredited and our growing range encompasses nearly 70 strains, many of which have been added as a direct result of customer requests. As Selectrol® organisms are guaranteed to be first generation microorganisms, they are ideal for use in accredited laboratories. Selectrol® batches are tested for a range of identification and characterization attributes and certificates of analysis for each batch can be accessed via our website: www.tcsbiosciences.co.uk. further information Visit: www.tcsbiosciences.co.uk Tel: +44 (0)1296 714222 Email: sales@tcsgroup.co.uk

Cherwell Laboratories — the complete validation solution

A unique chromogenic medium for the isolation of both O157 and non-O157 STEC

Cherwell Laboratories have been manufacturing prepared microbiological media under the Redipor name since the early 1980’s and have built a strong reputation within the pharmaceutical industry for high quality products and a flexible, effcient service. The extensive Redipor range includes petri dishes, contact plates, gamma irradiated media, injection vials, broth in bags and ampoules. They also specialise in supplying bespoke prepared media solutions and low volume requirements. As the newly appointed UK distributor for Raven Laboratories and Apex Laboratories, Cherwell now also supply a comprehensive range of biological indicators, chemical integrators and process indicators for industrial and healthcare applications. The biological indicator range, from Cherwell Laboratoriesincludes spore strips, spore suspensions, self-contained biological indicators, industrial use biological indicators and chemical indicators. The range is ideal for developing, monitoring and validating a range of sterilisation processes including steam, dry heat, hydrogen peroxide vapour, ethylene oxide and gamma irradiation. The addition of biological indicators to the product range, which also includes data loggers and microbial air samplers means Cherwell can now offer a fully integrated range of high quality products for environmental monitoring and validation of sterilisation processes.

An increasing and worrisome number of studies have lately shown that, non-O157 ShigaToxinproducing E.coli (STEC) have been responsible for foodborne poisoning outbreaks. The CDC has also reported warnings about this potential risk: “60 STEC serotypes have been implicated in diarrheal disease, and several non-O157:H7 serotypes have been implicated as the cause of foodborne outbreaks and HUS in the United States, Europe, and Australia. Studies from Canada, Europe, Argentina, and Australia suggest that non-O157:H7 STEC infections are as prevalent, or more so, than O157:H7 infection.” In many cases, laboratories have limited their search for pathogenic E.coli to the common O157 serotype. This is due, among other reasons, to the fact that there were no available selective culture media for non-O157 E.coli. CHROMagar STEC is designed to fill this gap: detection, as mauve colonies, of not only the classical STEC O157, but also many other serotypes. An outbreak of STEC O104:H4 was reported in Europe during 2011, this media was used to screen large numbers of samples and successfully isolate the STEC that would not have been routinely identified. In addition CHROMagar developed a selective supplement for addition to this media rendering it highlyselective for the specific strain causing the outbreak. CHROMagar manufacture a large range of chromogenic media that have applications in both clinical and industrial microbiology. These media are now available in the UK through BioConnections.

further information

further information

Visit: www.cherwell-labs.co.uk Tel: +44 (0)1869 355500 Email: sales@cherwell-labs.co.uk

Visit: www.bioconnections.co.uk Tel: +44 (0)1937 541717 Email: welcome@bcnx.co.uk

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