Evaluation of a Macrofoam Swab Protocol for the Recovery of Bacillus anthracis Spores from a Steel Surface

ABSTRACT

A protocol to recover Bacillus anthracis spores from a steel surface using macrofoam swabs was evaluated for its accuracy, precision, reproducibility, and limit of detection. Macrofoam swabs recovered 31.7 to 49.1% of spores from 10-cm² steel surfaces with a ≤32.7% coefficient of variation in sampling precision and reproducibility for inocula of ≥38 spores.