Background: Streptobacillus moniliformis is a zoonotic agent associated with rodent contacts. Although it is more commonly reported to cause rat-bite fever with reactive arthritides, it can also lead to pyogenic infection of the joints.

This study documented the emergence of SCCmec types IV and V among genetically diverse MRSA strains in residential care homes for elderly persons in Hong Kong.

Nontyphoidal salmonellae are among the most common causes of bacterial gastroenteritis worldwide. They are also notable causes of extraintestinal infections, including bacteremia and vascular infections. Salmonella enterica serotype Choleraesuis is typically associated with invasive infections. We report a patient who had an infected intra-abdominal aortic aneurysm due to an unusually mucoid strain of Salmonella enterica serotype Choleraesuis. The isolate was erroneously identified as Hafnia alvei by the Vitek GNI؉ card system. A blood culture isolate taken from the same patient 9 months earlier was also identified as H. alvei by the Vitek GNI؉ card system. Despite an apparent cure with intravenous amoxicillin-clavulanic acid at that time, the Salmonella infection had not been cleared and manifested as a ruptured infected abdominal aortic aneurysm. Repeated passage of the strain yielded nonmucoid colonies, which were correctly identified by the API and PHOENIX systems. The isolates from the aneurysm and the former bacteremic episode were found to be identical using pulsed field gel electrophoresis. The fallibility of automated bacterial identification systems is highlighted. Such errors are especially important for isolates in which in vitro antibiotic susceptibility testing does not correlate with the clinical success of treatment, as illustrated by Salmonella infections. CASE REPORTA 75-year-old man was admitted to our hospital in March 2006 because of persistent back pain and abdominal distention lasting for 2 days. He had a history of hypertension, transient ischemic attack, and pulmonary tuberculosis complicated with bronchiectasis. At the time of admission, his oral temperature was 37.5°C, with a blood pressure of 163/87 mmHg and heart rate of 85 beats per minute. A physical examination revealed distension and tenderness in the lower abdomen.