cultures also apply to specimens obtained from the 
patient or any other source. 
1. Bacterial Specimens. Agar slant or stab cul- 
tures, using freshly prepared media free of 
excess moisture, are most practical. Stab cul- 
tures are best for anaerobes. If the bacteria have 
low shipping tolerance (as does Neisseria, for 
example), fresh and relatively heavy growths on 
either blood agar or brain heart infusion slant, 
moistened with a drop of blood, or a chocolate 
agar slant should be forwarded. The tube should 
be closed with either a rubber stopper or 
paraffin-treated cork secured in place with ad- 
hesive tape. A screw-cap tube is also acceptable, 
provided the cap is wrapped and sealed with 
tape. The tape should be applied in the direction 
of the threads to avoid loosening the cap. Viable 
cultures should NEVER be shipped in Petri 
plates. 
2. Mycological Specimens. Yeast cultures which 
develop gas are the single exception to the rule 
that specimens should be placed in tubes or 
bottles sealed with rubber stoppers or paraffin- 
treated corks. In this instance, the culture tube 
should be plugged with a dry, nonabsorbent, 
tight fitting cotton plug, long enough to extend 
into the tube about one inch. This plug should 
be held in place with adhesive tape in such a 
manner that gases will escape, but the plug will 
not work loose. Slant cultures on firm agar are 
preferred over stab cultures. Other fungal cul- 
tures must be shipped only in sealed tubes or 
bottles. 
3. Parasitological Specimens. Stool specimens to 
be examined for intestinal protozoa should be 
submited in two parts: one in polyvinyl alcohol 
(PVA) fixative solution, the other in formalin. 
In suspected cases of filariasis or trypanoso- 
miasis, whole blood should be heparinized and 
sealed in a tube as for bacterial specimens. It 
may be necessary to submit samples of arthropod 
ectoparasites in two portions: one for identifica- 
tion, the other for viral or rickettsial isolation. 
Mosquitoes and flies should be sent to the 
laboratory unmounted, preferably in pill boxes 
between layers of cleansing tissue but never 
between layers of cotton. If viral or rickettsial 
isolation is to be attempted, the arthropod speci- 
mens must be collected alive, sealed in ampules, 
and stored and shipped on dry ice. Cyanide or 
chloroform jars must not be used because viral 
and rickettsial agents are inactivated by these 
materials. 
NOTES: Special precaution in regard to safe 
packaging is required when shipping 
the etiological agents of especially 
dangerous diseases such as plague, 
cholera, anthrax, tularemia, and coc- 
cidioidomycosis. Label tubes or bot- 
tles containing such organisms with 
precautionary labels and enclose 
them in double metal containers. 
In some instances, reference cultures 
of bacteria are maintained either in 
the sand desiccated or lyophilized 
state. Such cultures are shipped in the 
same manner as agar cultures. 
VIRAL AND RICKETTSIAL 
SPECIMENS 
If isolation of a virus is to be attempted, the source 
of the specimen should be carefully selected, and the 
specimen should be obtained during the early, acute, 
febrile phase of illness. 
Depending on the circumstances, the material for 
virus isolation may be either nasal or throat washings, 
sputum, feces, cerebrospinal fluid, scrapings, aspira- 
tions from lesions, or tissues from autopsies. Blood, 
spinal fluid, and tissue should be handled aseptically. 
Isolations of rickettsia may be obtained from whole 
blood. Uffiess specimens for virus isolation can be 
delivered to a laboratory within three hours, it is 
mandatory that they be frozen and kept frozen during 
shipment. An exception is a specimen suspected of 
containing respiratory svncytial virus. If freezing is 
impossible, tissue specimens may be placed in 
buffered glycerin for transport; but the results may 
be equivocal. This procedure is impossible with body 
fluids. 
Possible delays in transit necessitate the use of 
sufficient dry ice in the shipping container to insure 
freezing for 48 hours in excess of the normal transit 
time. 
Since changes in atmospheric pressure during air 
shipment may force stoppers from tubes, resulting in 
loss of the specimen, only tight fitting corks or soft 
rubber stoppers should be used; and, in any case, the 
cork should be anchored with adhesive tape. When a 
highly infectious disease such as psittacosis or small- 
pox is suspected, several layers of gauze soaked in 
4% formalin should be wrapped around the tube or 
bottle containing the specimen before it is placed in 
a metal, leakproof shipping case. Substitution of 
10% cresol solution for the formalin is permissible. 
Specimens for serologic tests indicative of viral in- 
4 
