, 64 isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa were implicated in bacteraemia in 25 cancer patients in five wards of two hospitals. These, together with 24 environmental isolates and one isolate from a bacteraemia in a noncancer patient were examined by three PCR-based DNA fingerprinting methods: random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), enterobacterial-repetitive intergenic consensus (ERIC)-PCR, and 16s-23s spacer region-based RAPD. These methods were reproducible, discriminatory and showed close agreement; all indicated that 47 isolates that had caused bacteraemia in 19 cancer patients were indistinguishable. Seventeen other isolates that had caused bacteraemia in 10 cancer patients were discriminated into eight further groups, and the 24 environmental and non-cancer patient isolates into further distinct groups. No environmental source of the epidemic strain was found, but it was suspected that the outbreak was related to infusion implants.

In recent years, human leptospirosis has been reported in Jinping and Liping counties, Guizhou province, but the leptospires have never been isolated. To track the source of infection and understand the aetiological characteristics, we performed surveillance for field mice carriage of leptospirosis in 2011. Four strains of leptospire were isolated from Apodemus agrarius. PCR confirmed the four isolates as pathogenic. Multiple-locus variable-number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA) showed that the four strains were closely related to serovar Lai strain 56601 belonging to serogroup Icterohaemorrhagiae, which is consistent with the antibody detection results from local patients. Furthermore, the diversity of leptospiral isolates from different hosts and regions was demonstrated with MLVA. Our results suggest that A. agrarius may be the main carrier of Leptospira in Jinping and Liping counties, and the serogroup Icterohaemorrhagiae serovar may be the epidemic serogroup of Leptospira. This will contribute to the control and prevention of leptospirosis in these localities.