Problem 1
Go to the CDC Web site http://www.cdc.gov. Then follow these links. (Note: Web sites often are revised, so if the site doesn't match this description exactly, it still is probably close. Improvise, and you'll find what you need. These links are current as of November 2009): \- Click on MMWR under "Publications" near the bottom of the home page. \- Click on "State Health Statistics" in the menu bar at the left. This will drop down a new menu. \- Click on "Morbidity Tables." \- Read the "Note" below the menu window on this page. It describes how the data in the tables are collected and why the numbers are provisional. \- Select MMWR Week 1 of the most recent complete MMWR year, and then click on "Submit." \- Table II is divided into 9 parts. Upon your first visit, examine the 9 parts and choose a disease you would like to work on. \({ }^{1}\) \- On your Data Sheet, record the name of the disease you have selected and write the cumulative number of cases in the United States for Week 1 of the two years you are studying. For instance, if you are studying 2009 and 2008 , you would take the numbers from the columns entitled Cum 2009 and Cum 2008. Record these on the Data Sheet. Using the years 2008 and 2009 as examples, you will find that the 2008 number reported for a particular week in the 2009 table might differ from the reported number in the same week of the 2008 table. This is a result of corrections in reported 2008 numbers in the 2009 table. Don't fret. This is out of your control! Just record the numbers as given. \- Return to the page with the MMWR Week and \(M M W R\) Year and continue the process for each week through MMWR Week 52. (Alternatively, you can just change the week number in the URL and press return. \({ }^{2}\) ) Record the cumulative totals on the Data Sheet.
Problem 4
Perform a Gram stain on a portion of one wellisolated colony. Record its Gram reaction and cell morphology, arrangement and size on the Data Sheet under Preliminary Observations. If the isolate is a Gram-negative rod, transfer a portion of the same colony to a Trypticase Soy Agar slant (or another suitable growth medium as available in your lab) and incubate it at its optimum temperature. This is your pure culture to be used as a source of organisms for further testing. Complete the record of your isolation procedure on the Data Sheet.
Problem 5
Inoculate a Mueller-Hinton plate with \(E .\) coli by streaking the entire surface of the agar three times with the swab. Your goal is confluent growth, so make the streaks right next to each other. When you have covered the surface, rotate the plate \(1 / 3 \mathrm{turn}\) and repeat the streaking of the inoculum already on the plate, using the same technique to produce confluent growth. Then rotate the plate another \(1 / 3\) turn and repeat.
