Identification of anaerobic Actinomyces species

Public health England has issued “UK Standards for Microbiology Investigations ID 15: identification of anaerobic Actinomyces species.”

The genus Actinomyces currently contains 46 species and two subspecies that have been characterised by phenotypic and molecular methods1. Twenty four of these species are associated with humans and five have been recently assigned to other genera. The genus comprises 17 species that are known to be the cause of a wide spectrum of clinical diseases in animals.

The document provides guidance about the identification of these organisms. To access the document, see Public Health England.

Posted by Tim Sandle