Wisconsin State Health Authorities Alerted the CDC About an E

question 14

Multiple Choice

Wisconsin state health authorities alerted the CDC about an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak. Soon thereafter, officials from two other states reported that they also had cases of illness associated with this pathogen. Within days, the CDC determined that the E. coli strains from all three states were the same, and the likely source of the outbreak was a particular brand of pre-packaged fresh spinach. The CDC then issued a press release advising people not to eat bagged fresh spinach.
-If you were the lab technician trying to identify the causative organism of this foodborne outbreak, would you inoculate several biochemical tests at the same time, or would you inoculate each test after getting the results from the previous test?

• A) I would inoculate each test after obtaining results from the last one because the tests are very quick and give instant results, and doing one test at a time will avoid confusion in the results.
• B) I would inoculate several tests simultaneously, because most biochemical tests require at least 18 hours of incubation, so inoculating several tests simultaneously saves time and also aids in conclusive identification.
• C) I would inoculate each test after obtaining results from the last one because the tests are extremely expensive so the fewer tests I can do, the less money I have to invest in the identification process.
• D) I would inoculate several tests simultaneously, because these tests can only be analyzed using specialized equipment, so I need to have the tests ready at the same time. 
• E) I would inoculate each test after obtaining results from the last one because these tests are very time consuming and difficult to set up, so it would be more practical to take this approach.

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