Evaluation of the Biotoxis qPCR Detection Kit for Francisella tularensis Detection in Clinical and Environmental Samples

Abstract

Rapid and reliable detection and identification of Francisella tularensis (a tier 1 select agent) are of primary interest for both medical and biological threat surveillance purposes. The Biotoxis qPCR detection kit is a real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) assay designed for the detection of Bacillus anthracis , Yersinia pestis , and F. tularensis in environmental or biological samples. Here, we evaluated its performance for detecting F. tularensis in comparison to previously validated qPCR assays.