Firstly, obtain a pure culture of the organism in question on a non-selective blood agar medium that yields good growth e.g. Fastidious Anaerobe Agar (FAA) preferably using a transport swab, take a sweep of the colonies and place the swab immediately in the transport medium.
Place in a sealed plastic bag.
Alternatively, inoculate a cooked meat broth and incubate until good growth is evident.
Seal the lid with parafilm and place in a sealed plastic bag.
Ensure all cultures are labelled and packed separately and surrounded by absorbent material and sent in a crush-proof container according to the current postal regulations for infectious materials.
Leaking cultures will be rejected.
Please note: viability of some anaerobes is reduced if strong pigment or acid is produced.
Please consider using fresh cultures of these isolates in order to allow maximum recovery for processing at the UKARU.
Complete the UKARU ID Request Form