Fig. 7

Effect of storage conditions of swabs collected using the thorough method on HMBS and AIV PCR results, and HMBS copy numbers. The percentages of HMBS (a) and AIV (c) PCR positive swabs stored in DNA/RNA stabilization buffer at room temperature remained the same after 3 (day-3) and 9 days (day-9). In contrast there was a decrease in the number of PCR positive swabs stored in PBS, and in PBS with antibiotics at room temperature over time. The HMBS copy numbers decreased over time in storage for all the swabs but the decrease was most marked in swabs stored in PBS with antibiotics (b)