Rapid test for Legionella, especially Legionella pneumophila, in water

The current ISO method (ISO 11731:1998; 11731-2 2004) used to detect and identify the Legionella species takes at least 10 days and requires several steps with different media. Therefore, a rapid method for the detection of Legionella is of great interest.

HybriScan® Legionella kit and HybriScan Legionella pneumophila kit use ribosomal RNA as a detection target. It is advantageous since the rRNA is greater in number than DNA (no PCR is needed), and is only present in living cells. It, therefore, perfectly suits specific and sensitive detection. Within 2.5 hours, a direct quantitative detection of 10,000 colony forming units (CFU) per liter is easily achieved, and 1-10 CFU/per liter can be detected with an enrichment step in BCYE Medium. Detection of organisms based on ribosomal RNA through HybriScan^®  rapid test system is faster and efficient. The HybriScan can detect much more than Legionella, and  the development of an assay for a new organism is relatively easy and fast.