Hands-on laboratory experts present a set of "classic" PCR-based methods for the identification and detection of important animal and food microbial pathogens, including several zoonotic agents. These proven techniques can be precisely applied to a wide variety of microbes, among them Campylobacter spp., chlamydiae, toxigenic clostridia, Escherichia coli (STEC), Listeria monocytogenes, mycoplasmas, salmonellae, and Yersinia enterocolitica. Additional chapters review the specificity and performance of diagnostic PCR analysis, the pre-PCR processing of samples, the critical aspects of standardizing PCR methods, and the general issues involved in using PCR technology for microbial diagnosis.