Plaut RD, Staab AB, Munson MA, Gebhardt JS, Klimko CP, Quirk AV, Cote CK, Buhr TL, Rossmaier RD, Bernhards RC, Love CE, Berk KL, Abshire TG, Rozak DA, Beck LC, Stibitz S, Goodwin BG, Smith MA, Sozhamannan S. Avirulent Bacillus anthracis Strain with Molecular Assay Targets as Surrogate for Irradiation-Inactivated Virulent Spores.
Emerg Infect Dis 2018;
24. [PMID:
29553922 PMCID:
PMC5875273 DOI:
10.3201/eid2404.171646]
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Abstract
The revelation in May 2015 of the shipment of γ irradiation–inactivated wild-type Bacillus anthracis spore preparations containing a small number of live spores raised concern about the safety and security of these materials. The finding also raised doubts about the validity of the protocols and procedures used to prepare them. Such inactivated reference materials were used as positive controls in assays to detect suspected B. anthracis in samples because live agent cannot be shipped for use in field settings, in improvement of currently deployed detection methods or development of new methods, or for quality assurance and training activities. Hence, risk-mitigated B. anthracis strains are needed to fulfill these requirements. We constructed a genetically inactivated or attenuated strain containing relevant molecular assay targets and tested to compare assay performance using this strain to the historical data obtained using irradiation-inactivated virulent spores.
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