Brucella species (B. abortus, B.melitensis, B. suis) – Confirmation

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Testing Indications

Submitting laboratories must contact Public Health Ontario laboratory Customer Service Centre by telephone prior to submission of the isolate.

Specimen Collection and Handling

Specimen Requirements

Test Requested	Required Requisition(s)	Specimen Type	Minimum Volume	Collection Kit
Brucella species (B. abortus, B. melitensis, B.suis) – Confirmation	Reference Bacteriology Requisition	Pure viable subculture of organism on Columbia sheep blood agar plate	N/A	Columbia sheep blood agar plate

Submission and Collection Notes

Complete all fields of the General Test Requisition Form, including:

test(s) requested
culture information (e.g. colonial and gram morphology, urea test if available)
clinical/epidemiology
contact information

Specimens received on either dry or gel-based swabs will not be accepted and will be cancelled.

Storage and Transport

Label the specimen with the patient’s full name, date of collection and one other unique identifier such as the patient’s date of birth, Health Insurance Number, admission/identification or accession number. Failure to provide this information may result in rejection or testing delay.

Special Instructions

Culture must be viable. Use a fresh subculture and ship in conditions to ensure viability on receipt.

Brucella species must be handled in accordance with the Canadian Biosafety Standards and shipped in accordance with the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Regulations. Refer to Brucella spp. (B. abortus, B. canis, B. melitensis, B. suis) - Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) - Canada.ca

Requisitions and Kit Ordering

Test Frequency and Turnaround Time (TAT)

Testing is performed daily (Monday to Friday) as received at PHO. Turnaround time for test results is up to 3 days from receipt by PHO’s laboratory.Cultures received or identified as suspected Brucella species are tested at PHO using the Canadian Laboratory Response Network (CLRN) PCR assay. Any isolate that is positive by the CLRN assay is considered as presumptive positive for Brucella spp. and is forwarded to the National Microbiology Laboratory (NML) for confirmatory testing and species level identification. Turnaround time for test results is up to 3 days from receipt by NML.

STAT and Critical Samples Testing

Urgent testing is available upon request by calling the Customer Service Centre 416-235-6556 or 1-877-604-4567.

Test Methods

Brucella species is identified and confirmed using the Canadian Laboratory Response Network (CLRN) real-time-PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) assay at Public Health Ontario’s laboratory.

Algorithm

All isolates that are positive by the CLRN real-time PCR assay are considered as presumptively positive for Brucella spp. and are forwarded to the National Microbiology Laboratory (NML) for confirmatory testing and species level identification.

Reporting

Results are reported to the ordering physician or health care provider as indicated on the requisition.

Specimens that are presumptive positive for Brucella spp. by the PHO’s CLRN assay are reported to the Medical Officer of Health as per Health Protection and Promotion Act.

References

LAB-SD-125, Reference Bacteriology and Antimicrobial Susceptibility: New Requisition and Testing Algorithm for Improved Test Utilization