Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Lab

1. Samples should be collected aseptically and placed in sterile plastic bags (e.g., Whirl-pak) or heat sterilized containers. Seal tightly. Do not use chemically disinfected containers, or plastic gloves or sleeves.
2. Label all submissions with the location (tissue) and species of origin. The same bacterial species may be highly significant or a meaningless contaminant, depending on the tissue and/or species from which the sample was obtained. Also, depending on the tissue/species of origin, different culture conditions may be necessary to isolate and identify specific pathogens. 
3. If possible, specify the test(s) you want done, and the pathogens you suspect, particularly in the case of specimens with normal bacterial flora (feces, intestinal contents, skin, or oral mucus membranes). If we don't know what you're looking for, we may not inoculate the proper media to find it.
4. It is best to collect other samples before opening the gastrointestinal tract. Tissue samples (lung, liver, spleen, kidney, etc.) should be 5 g or larger to allow surface searing in the laboratory to reduce contaminants. Use screw top containers for fecal samples.  Fecal samples should not be submitted in stoppered tubes, as fermentation will dislodge the stoppers.
5. Place each sample in a separate container to prevent cross-contamination.  If the intestine is to be cultured, tie off both ends of a segment and place it in a separate container.
6. Except in the case of abortions, please separate samples that are to be examined by different laboratory sections. If a specimen is to be examined by both the virology and bacteriology sections, the specimen should be divided, each piece placed in a separate container, and labeled with the source of the tissue and the desired laboratory service.
7. Fluids for culture (e.g. body cavity fluids, pericardial fluid, joint aspirates) should be submitted in a sealed sterile tube, in as large a volume as is available (up to ~10 ml), since the concentration of organisms may be very low in these samples. Fluids may be submitted in blood culture bottles or Isolator tubes (keeping in mind that Isolator tubes must be processed in the lab within 24 hrs) for highest sensitivity. Fetal fluids (thoracic or peritoneal fluids, or heart blood) to be examined for Leptospira sp. by FA test are best submitted in a sealed sterile tube to which 10% buffered formalin is added at a rate of 1.5 ml per 20 ml fluid. Never submit fluid in syringes, which tend to leak in transit and contaminate packaging. Never submit fluids or other specimens for bacteriologic culture in EDTA (purple top) Vacutainer tubes, as EDTA is highly toxic to many bacterial species.
8. Milk samples should be submitted in screw top tubes frozen or placed on ice packs. Less than 1 ml is required. Large volume milk samples submitted frozen may lead to delayed analysis. 
9. Specimens for isolation of anaerobic pathogens require special care. Anaerobic bacteria are very susceptible to oxygen exposure.  Tissue or fluid specimens are preferred, and if swabs are the only practical sample, the  Port-a-Cul system is preferred.  Cultures for Clostridium sp. in parenchymatous organs ordinarily provide no significant information concerning the cause of death if the samples are taken more than one hour after death.
10. Some specimens, such as porcine nasal swabs for Bordetella sp. isolation must be delivered to the laboratory within 12 hours of collection. Fastidious organisms such as Campylobacter spp. require special media for transport to the laboratory. Where there is any doubt as to what samples to collect and how to transport them - - CALL THE LABORATORY FIRST!
11. When collecting large numbers of samples (e.g. >30 milk samples for mastitis diagnosis or fecal samples for Johne's disease diagnosis), please call the laboratory for scheduling. This permits the laboratory to have personnel and media available for prompt processing.
12. In general, it is advised to keep specimens cold from the time they are collected until they arrive at the laboratory. Specimens should be shipped in insulated containers with a sufficient number of ice packs to last 48 hours. Specimens arriving in the laboratory in a decomposed state will not be processed, since processing and culture of these tissues lead to meaningless or erroneous results.
13. For cases where bacteremia is suspected and blood culturing is requested, blood culture systems should be inoculated with the proper amount of blood collected aseptically. Single bottle blood culture systems are recommended.
14. Select samples judiciously! See the following list for guidelines, and call the laboratory if questions remain.
15. Different bacteriologic procedures take different times to complete; approximate culture times are as follows:

Disease

Fees

Specimen

Remarks & Suggested Ancillary Testing

Fetus: liver, lung kidney, stomach contents, thoracic fluid.

Histopathology, Virology

Campylobacteriosis

Enteric: 

Reproductive:

Feces

See abortion

Arthritis

Mastitis

Pneumonia