TABLE 1.
Sensitivity and specificity of three assay kits for B. anthracis, B. cereus, and B. thuringiensisa
| Assay |
B. anthracis
|
B. cereus (106 spores)
|
B. thuringiensis (106 spores)
|
% Overall speci- ficityb | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 106 spores
|
105 spores
|
104 spores
|
103 spores
|
102 spores
|
Total
|
% Overall sensi- tivity | ||||||||||||
| No. + (n) | % | No. + (n) | % | No. + (n) | % | No. + (n) | % | No. + (n) | % | No. + (n) | % | No. + (n) | % | No. + (n) | % | |||
| Anthrax BTA | 6 (6) | 100 | 1 (8) | 12.5 | 0 (5) | 0 | 0 (2) | 0 | 0 (2) | 0 | 7 (23) | 30.43 | 30.43 | 0 (2) | 0 | 0 (2) | 0 | 100 |
| BADD | 2 (2) | 100 | 3 (3) | 100 | 0 (3) | 0 | 0 (2) | 0 | 0 (4) | 0 | 5 (14) | 35.71 | 35.71 | 0 (2) | 0 | 0 (2) | 0 | 100 |
| SMART II | 2 (2) | 100 | 3 (3) | 100 | 0 (3) | 0 | 0 (2) | 0 | 0 (2) | 0 | 5 (12) | 41.67 | 41.67 | 0 (2) | 0 | 1 (2) | 50 | 75 |
a
The results show the number of positive tests (No. +) out of n attempts. Note that the manufacturers state the kits can detect as few as 104 spores per sample.
b
For all spore concentrations of all organisms.