Two egg-based media for cultivation of pathogenic mycobacteria: Löwenstein-Jensen medium (top) and Ogawa medium (bottom). Solid media for cultivation of pathogenic mycobacteria are usually in tightly plugged tubes or bottles. It hinders excessive evaporation during prolonged cultivation (up to 9 weeks) and considerably decreases probability of infection of laboratory staff working with the cultures.
For primary isolation of mycobacteria from clinical material several cultivation media are used at the same time (for example Löwenstein-Jensen + Middlebrook 7H11 agar + Middlebrook 7H9 broth + Sula's medium).