TY - JOUR
T1 - Bacterial Cross-contamination Potential Associated with Contaminated Currency
AU - Kesavan, Jana
AU - Stephens, Amelia
AU - Kesavan, Meera
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Published 2016. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA
PY - 2016/11/1
Y1 - 2016/11/1
N2 - Previous studies have shown a significant amount of contaminants on paper currencies. It is important to study the transfer of microorganisms between paper currencies to determine whether it meets the level of a human health threat. This cross-contamination potential was analyzed by seeding new US 1-dollar bills with Bacillus thuringiensis, and pressing or rubbing them against clean currency to determine the amount of bacteria transfer to the unseeded currency. The transferred amount of bacteria was recovered, plated, incubated, and the colony-forming units were quantified. Among the recovery methods tested, the most efficient method, vortexing for 10 min with a recovery efficiency of 40 ± 8.1%, was used in this analysis. The resulting transfer rates were 4.8%, 8.6%, and 14.3% when pressed for 24 h, 72 h, and rubbed together, respectively. These transferred amounts of bacteria are significant and have the potential to spread infectious diseases.
AB - Previous studies have shown a significant amount of contaminants on paper currencies. It is important to study the transfer of microorganisms between paper currencies to determine whether it meets the level of a human health threat. This cross-contamination potential was analyzed by seeding new US 1-dollar bills with Bacillus thuringiensis, and pressing or rubbing them against clean currency to determine the amount of bacteria transfer to the unseeded currency. The transferred amount of bacteria was recovered, plated, incubated, and the colony-forming units were quantified. Among the recovery methods tested, the most efficient method, vortexing for 10 min with a recovery efficiency of 40 ± 8.1%, was used in this analysis. The resulting transfer rates were 4.8%, 8.6%, and 14.3% when pressed for 24 h, 72 h, and rubbed together, respectively. These transferred amounts of bacteria are significant and have the potential to spread infectious diseases.
KW - Bacillus thuringiensis
KW - bacteria
KW - contaminated currency
KW - cross-contamination
KW - forensic science
KW - spread of disease
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U2 - 10.1111/1556-4029.13174
DO - 10.1111/1556-4029.13174
M3 - Comment/debate
C2 - 27539663
AN - SCOPUS:84994627940
SN - 0022-1198
VL - 61
SP - 1639
EP - 1642
JO - Journal of Forensic Sciences
JF - Journal of Forensic Sciences
IS - 6
ER -