[Morphologic detection of Bacillus cereus in blank cartridges]

Wound infections after gunshot wounds from live ammunition can produce serious complications. It is well known that projectiles per se are neither sterile nor does their firing cause sterilization. The germs on the surface of a projectile enter the body together with the projectile and are thus introduced into the wound together with skin bacteria. However it is less known that wound infections can occur in wounds caused by the gas jet from blank ammunition (mainly from shots at very close range). In such ammunition without a projectile, the propellant particles are usually contaminated with bacteria which find their way into the wound together with skin germs. In previous investigations, we have microbiologically detected the species Bacillus cereus in the propellant of blank cartridges. In the present study, we have applied scanning electron microscopic methods to find out which areas of the blank cartridges are colonized by these bacteria. For this purpose 20 blank cartridges, each from 4 different manufacturers, were electronmicroscopically examined. B. cereus only found on the surface of intact nitrocellulose particles but not in the interior of broken prepared propellant particles. Bacterial structures were not morphologically identified on black powder particles.