Study of Rambach and NBGL agar on 4037 stools of human origin and 584 veterinary samples submitted for isolation of Salmonellae.

Rambach agar and novobiocin-brilliant green-glycerol-lactose (NBGL) agar are two recently described media designed for Salmonella isolation. Rambach and NBGL agars were compared to usual media in human and veterinary routines, by evaluation of sensitivities and predictive values of suspect colonies. In the human routine, 4037 stools, sensitivities were 79% for Hektoen agar, 51% for Rambach agar and 96% for NBGL agar at the direct plating for a total of 94 strains; and 89%, 87% and 94% respectively at the plating of Mueller-Kauffmann enrichment broth for a total of 143 strains. Predictive values of suspect colonies were respectively 58%, 93%, 91% at the direct plating; and 25%, 74%, 80% at the plating of Mueller-Kauffmann enrichment broth. In the veterinary routine, 584 samples, sensitivity was 65% on the association of Salmonella-Shigella and Hektoen agars, 70% on Rambach agar and 85% on NBGL agar, for a total of 40 strains. Predictive values of suspect colonies were 7.4%, 82.3% and 83% respectively. These results showed that Rambach and NBGL agars have distinct properties, and are both highly predictive. The highest sensitivities were achieved by the NBGL agar.