AAAR 34th Annual Conference
October 12 - October 16, 2015
Hyatt Regency
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Abstract View
Characterization of the Performance of Personal Sampling Devices for Detecting Infectious Aerosols Containing Burkholderia pseudomallei
JILL MATUS, John Yeager, Jeremy Boydston, Kristin Bower, Paul Dabisch, NBACC
Abstract Number: 614 Working Group: Environmental Fate of Infectious Aerosols
Abstract Recently it was reported that aerosolized Burkholderia pseudomallei, the causative organism of melioidosis, was detected in air samples collected during severe weather events in an endemic region, providing evidence that inhalation of bacterial aerosols may be a natural route of infection for this disease. This study relied on PCR to identify the bacteria, which does not provide information on the viability of the collected microorganisms. To assess the risk associated with inhalation of infectious B. pseudomallei aerosols in a laboratory or field setting, sampling methodologies capable of maintaining the viability of collected microorganisms are needed. However, few data exist on the efficiency of aerosol sampling devices for collecting and maintaining B. pseudomallei in a viable state. Therefore, NBACC is performing a study to assess the ability of a range of aerosol sampling technologies to preserve the viability of collected B. pseudomallei. Preliminary results will be presented that focus on personal sampling devices, including gelatin filters, SKC Biosamplers, and midget impingers. The results of this study will identify potential limitations of the various sampling devices, and will be useful to inform sampling strategies for B. pseudomallei containing aerosols in both the laboratory and future field sampling studies.