ADHS: Division of Public Health Services: Office of Public Health Microbiology: Viral Isolation and Identification Part 1

Office of Public Health Microbiology

Viral Isolation and Identification Part 1

The Virology Section will accept animals for rabies testing from county health departments, county rabies animal control groups, state public health agencies, and veterinarians. Individuals wishing to have animals tested for rabies should contact their local rabies animal control group or their veterinarian.

The following information is provided to guide health care professionals in the submission of specimens to the Virology Section for virus isolation and/or identification. It is the policy of the Virology Section to call the submitting agency whenever a viral isolate has been identified.

Specimen Collection, Handling, and Transport

General Considerations
To optimize the ability of the virology laboratory to isolate viral agents from clinical specimens it is very important that the specimens be collected, handled, and transported in a manner that minimizes deleterious effects on any viral agents present. In addition, sufficient information should be provided with a submitted specimen to guide the virology laboratory in the selection of proper inoculation techniques for the viral agents suspected. To maximize the chances for recovery of viral agents all specimens should be transported to the laboratory as soon as possible. Specimens should be sent to the lab on wet ice or ice packs. Specimens that will not be received by the lab within 48 hours should be frozen at -70 centigrade. Do not store viral specimens at freezer temperatures of -10 to -20 centigrade. If a -70 freezer is not available, tightly cap the specimen and freeze, store, and ship the specimen on dry ice.

Viral Transport Media
The medium used for collection and holding of swab specimens should contain protein to stabilize the more labile viruses, and the use of media containing charcoal should be avoided as this may reduce viral recovery rates. For eligible submitters, Hanks Buffered Salt Solution is available from the State Laboratory Receiving Department (602) 542-1190.

If a medium specifically formulated for collection of viral specimens is not available, a sterile, well-buffered bacteriological broth, such as tryptose phosphate broth, may be used. If no other media is available, sterile water may be used, however, viral recovery will be enhanced by the use of a protein containing media. Cotton-or Dacron-tipped swabs are preferred for collection of specimens; prolonged contact with calcium alginate swabs has been reported to inactivate herpes simplex virus.

Types of Specimens
Specimens that may be tested for the presence of viral agents are the following:

Autopsy, biopsy specimen	Saliva
Blood specimen	Semen specimen
Cerebrospinal fluids	Stool specimen
Cervical specimen	Throat and nasopharyngeal specimen
Eye specimen	Urine specimen
Rectal swab	Vesicular lesion specimen

Patient Information
Submission Form for Virology [PDF 1M]

Information that should be provided with all virology submission includes:

Patient name	Exposure to disease
Patient sex	Exposure to animals or arthropod vectors
Patient age	Pregnancy status, if applicable
Date of onset of illness	Relevant immunization history
Disease/viral agent suspected	Type of specimen submitted
Major clinical findings	Date of specimen collection
Recent travel	Submitting agency and agency code

Proper collection, handling, and shipping of specimens will enhance the overall ability of the laboratory to isolate viral agents from the specimen. However, failure to isolate any specific viral agent does not exclude the agent as a cause of infection or disease.

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