You are working for the CDC studying outbreaks of foodborne infectious disease. Your latest case is an incidence of food poisoning in a fast food restaurant. 5 people have been hospitalized for food poisoning, so you are working with that hospital to identify the source of the outbreak. Hospital clinicians have taken samples from each of the 5 patients for culturing. Each bacterial culture grew one likely microbe, each labelled P1, P2, P3, P4, and P5. All 5 isolates appear to have the same colony morphology on the plates, and all appear to be Gram-negative rods 1 micron wide and 3 microns long under the microscope. In addition, all 5 isolates appear to perform the same on an API 20E test strip that tests bacteria for 20 biochemical abilities. No other testing has been done yet. How would you best describe your set of isolates at this moment?
Microscopic examination
The analysis of minute organisms, cellular organization of any biological structure, and composition of body fluids with the help of a microscope is known as microscopic examination. The magnification of specimens or samples under study helps in attaining a clearer picture of it.
Gram Staining
Named after Hans Christian Gram, a Danish bacteriologist, Gram stain is one of the most powerful staining techniques within microbiology. This technique was introduced in 1882 to identify pneumonia-causing organisms. The Gram staining technique uses crystal violet or methylene blue as primary staining colors to distinguish gram-positive from gram-negative organisms. Under a microscope, the gram-positive organisms appear purple-brown, retaining the primary color. Gram-negative organisms appear pink or red as they do not acquire the color of the primary stain.
Foodborne bacterial diseases are a major concern worldwide and the cause of the infection information is very important to control it's spread
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