Evaluation of Environmental Sampling Methods for Detection of Staphylococcus aureus on Fomites

We evaluated a variety of methods to recover S. aureus from inanimate surfaces. Two contact agar plates and three swab sampling methods were tested on porous and non-porous surfaces and bar soap. The cost and ease of use of each method was also evaluated. S. aureus was recovered using all methods on both porous and non-porous surfaces. S. aureus could not be detected on three of four brands of soap.