Modification of the standard most-probable-number procedure for fecal coliform bacteria in seawater and shellfish

To determine whether or not presumptive tubes which take 48 h to become positive need to be transferred to EC medium during the fecal coliform multitube most-probable-number procedure, 572 seawater and shellfish samples were considered. When the 24-hour positive tubes alone were transferred to EC, it appeared that incorrect dilution data would be rare.