Sorbitol MacConkey Agar (Dehydrated)

Selectively detect Escherichia coli O157 with Thermo Scientific™ Oxoid™ Sorbitol MacConkey Agar (Dehydrated). The formulation, based on that described by Rappaport and Henig¹ is identical to MacConkey Agar No.3, except that lactose has been replaced with sorbitol. Escherichia coli O157 does not ferment sorbitol and, therefore, produces colorless colonies. In contrast, most E. coli strains ferment sorbitol and form pink colonies.

Escherichia coli O157 is recognized as a cause of hemorrhagic colitis, an illness characterized by bloody diarrhea and severe abdominal pain, and hemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS) ^{2, 3, 4, 5,6}, and as such, is a significant human pathogen.

Sorbitol MacConkey Agar is recommended for the isolation of pathogenic E.coli O157.

• Sensitive and specific for coli O157 based on sorbitol fermentation.
• Recommended as a simple, inexpensive, rapid and reliable means of screening for E.coli O157

The efficiency of Sorbitol MacConkey Agar has been confirmed by March and Ratnam⁷. These workers reported a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 85% and recommended the medium as a simple, inexpensive, rapid and reliable means of screening for E. coli O157.

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