Revised Veterinary AST Document

Wayne, Pennsylvania, USA —To assist veterinary diagnostic laboratories with testing organisms for which there are no standardized test methods or breakpoints, the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) has published a new document that provides guidance for antimicrobial agent disk and dilution susceptibility testing, criteria for quality control (QC) testing, and breakpoints for fastidious and infrequently tested bacteria.

A variety of laboratory techniques can be used to measure the in vitro susceptibility of bacteria to antimicrobial agents. This document, titled Methods for Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing of Infrequently Isolated or Fastidious Bacteria Isolated From Animals (VET06-Ed1), describes the standard disk diffusion method, as well as standard broth dilution (macrodilution and microdilution) and agar dilution techniques for infrequently isolated or fastidious bacteria from animals. It includes procedures designed to standardize test performance as well as recommendations for QC and growth conditions for the organisms.

“The new VET06 document is an important resource that provides guidance for the antimicrobial susceptibility testing and QC of fastidious and rarely encountered bacteria that are found in the veterinary diagnostic laboratory,” states Michael T. Sweeney, MS, Co-Chairholder of the VET06 Working Group, Zoetis, Parsippany, New Jersey, USA. “Future editions of the document will include additional isolates as more information is gathered.”

The tabular information in VET06 presents test conditions, QC recommendations, agents to consider for primary testing, and breakpoints. The document includes several potential bacterial agents of bioterrorism that could be initially encountered by diagnostic microbiology laboratories and that should be forwarded to appropriate reference or public health laboratories for identification, confirmation, and possible susceptibility testing.

For more information about VET06, contact Patrick McGinn at pmcginn@clsi.org or +1.484.588.5933.

CLSI sets the standard for quality in medical laboratory testing. A not-for-profit membership organization, CLSI brings together the global laboratory community for the advancement of a common cause: to foster excellence in laboratory medicine.

For nearly 50 years, our members, volunteers, and customers have made CLSI a respected, transformative leader in the development and implementation of medical laboratory testing standards. Through our unified efforts, we will continue to set and uphold the standards that drive quality test results, enhance patient care delivery, and improve health care around the world.

By using CLSI standards, laboratorians can improve process quality, speed the development of standard operating procedures, and implement safer practices with greater ease and efficiency.