Are nasal swabs sufficient for diagnosing exposure?
No. At present, CDC does not recommend the use of nasal swab testing on a routine basis to determine whether a person has been exposed to B. anthracis or as a diagnostic tool. At best, a positive result may be interpreted only to indicate exposure; a negative result does not exclude the possibility of exposure. Nasal swab screening may be used by public health officials to assist in an epidemiologic investigation of potentially exposed persons to evaluate the dispersion of spores.
