Volume 8, Number 10—October 2002
THEME ISSUE
Bioterrorism-related Anthrax
Bioterrorism-related Anthrax
Surface Sampling Methods for Bacillus anthracis Spore Contamination
Wayne T. Sanderson*
, Misty J. Hein*, Lauralynn Taylor*, Brian D. Curwin*, Gregory M. Kinnes*, Teresa A. Seitz*, Tanja Popovic*, Harvey T. Holmes*, Molly E. Kellum*, Sigrid K. McAllister*, David N. Whaley*, Edward A. Tupin†, Timothy Walker†, Jennifer A. Freed†, Dorothy S. Small‡, Brian Klusaritz‡, and John H. Bridges§
, Misty J. Hein*, Lauralynn Taylor*, Brian D. Curwin*, Gregory M. Kinnes*, Teresa A. Seitz*, Tanja Popovic*, Harvey T. Holmes*, Molly E. Kellum*, Sigrid K. McAllister*, David N. Whaley*, Edward A. Tupin†, Timothy Walker†, Jennifer A. Freed†, Dorothy S. Small‡, Brian Klusaritz‡, and John H. Bridges§Table 3
Comparison of wet swab, wipe, and HEPA vacuum sock sampling methods, Brentwood postal facility, December 17–19, 2001
| Methods compared | No. samples | No. concordant samplesa |
No. discordant samplesb |
Cohen’s Kappa | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Positive (%) | Negative (%) | Positive method | Positive method | |||
| Wet swab vs. wipe | 67 | 35 (52) | 8 (12) | Wet swab = 1 | Wipe = 23 | 0.24 |
| Wet swab vs. HEPA vacuum | 58 | 27 (47) | 10 (17) | Wet swab = 0 | HEPA vacuum = 21 | 0.31 |
| Wipe vs. HEPA vacuum | 58 | 44 (76) | 5 (9) | Wipe = 5 | HEPA vacuum = 4 | 0.43 |
aTwo samples from the same location are concordant if both positive or both negative for presence of Bacillus anthracis spores.
bTwo samples from the same location are discordant if one is positive and the other negative for presence of B. anthracis spores.
