Use of tellurite for the selection of verocytotoxigenic Escherichia coli O157 Zadik, P. M. and Chapman, P. A. and Siddons, C. A.,, 39, 155-158 (1993), doi = https://doi.org/10.1099/00222615-39-2-155, publicationName = Microbiology Society, issn = 0022-2615, abstract= Summary Potassium tellurite was assessed for the selection of verocytotoxigenic (VT+) Escherichia coli O157. MICs were higher for VT+ E. coli O157 than for other strains of E. coli and for Aeromonas spp. MacConkey medium containing sorbitol, tellurite and cefixime (TC-SMAC) permitted the growth of VT+ E. coli O157 and Shigella sonnei but partially or completely inhibited the growth of 67% of other strains of E. coli and all or most strains of other sorbitol-non-fermenting species tested. Of 391 rectal swabs from cattle screened on TC-SMAC medium, 26 yielded isolates of VT+ E. coli O157 whereas sorbitol-MacConkey medium with cefixime and rhamnose yielded only nine isolates. Inclusion of potassium tellurite in sorbitol-MacConkey agar markedly increased the rate of isolation of VT+ E. coli O157 from cattle rectal swabs and may do so for other types of specimen., language=, type=