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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Ames, Iowa » National Animal Disease Center » Infectious Bacterial Diseases Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #429757
Research Project: Intervention Strategies for Spirochete Diseases

Location: Infectious Bacterial Diseases Research

Title: Preparation of HAN medium for the isolation of Leptospira directly from infected hosts

Author
item HAMOND, CAMILA - University Of Connecticut
item FERNANDES, LUIS - Oak Ridge Institute For Science And Education (ORISE)
item Nally, Jarlath

Submitted to: Methods in Molecular Biology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/2/2025
Publication Date: 9/2/2026
Citation: Hamond, C., Fernandes, L.G., Nally, J.E. 2026. Preparation of HAN medium for the isolation of Leptospira directly from infected hosts. Methods in Molecular Biology. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-5500-9_2.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-5500-9_2

Interpretive Summary: Here we describe a step by step standard operating protocol to formulate HAN medium, a growth medium that is used to facilitate the isolation and propagation of pathogenic leptospires from infected host samples. This media offers significant improvements over other media for isolation of leptospirosis.

Technical Abstract: Here we describe the formulation and application of Hornsby-Alt-Nally (HAN) media for the isolation and propagation of Leptospira species and serovars from host tissues. Cultures can be isolated directly from host samples by incubation at 29oC or 37oC using HAN liquid, semi-solid or solid agar media.