Merck KGaA / EMD Chemicals Launches New Rapid Test for Legionella

The wide range of innovative rapid tests available from Merck KGaA / EMD Chemicals has been extended to now include Duopath Legionella (Cat. No. 1.04147). This test is a lateral flow assay that enables the simultaneous identification of all Legionella species and separately of its most prominent species Legionella pneumophila with the same device. Duopath® Legionella can be used for confirmation of suspect colonies obtained after enrichment of water or environmental samples on GVPC or BCYE agars.

Due to the excellent sensitivity rate of Duopath® Legionella for Legionella species, customers now have a significantly lower risk for false-negative results. In a comprehensive comparative study with the widely used latex agglutination assay, the sensitivity of Duopath® Legionella has been shown to be 100% for Legionella pneumophila and 92% for Legionella species, while the latex assay provided only 98% and 37%, respectively (Helbig et al., Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72:4489-4491, 2006).

Duopath® Legionella is of special interest for microbiology laboratories that analyze water samples from various sources (e.g. drinking water from water pipes, warmed pool or shower water, water from cooling towers, air conditioners, etc.). All warm water samples that are not heated above 56°C are potentially hazardous for humans. Thus, water systems in hospitals, nursing homes, schools, etc. are frequently analyzed for the presence of Legionella. Some countries require water testing for the presence of Legionella pneumophila, but many countries require analysis for all Legionella species.

Duopath® Legionella extends Merck's and EMD's unique and innovative Singlepath / Duopath lateral flow program for the rapid and convenient detection and confirmation of Salmonella, Listeria spp., E. coli O157, verotoxin-producing E. coli and Campylobacter. As for all rapid tests available from Merck and EMD, Duopath Legionella is perfectly adapted to Merck's range of high-quality culture media for the enrichment of Legionellae.

For further information about the wide range of products available from Merck KGaA / EMD Chemicals for the growth, detection, isolation and identification of food- and water-borne pathogens and other microorganisms, please contact Merck KGaA using contact details at the top of this page or click here for EMD Chemicals in the USA.