Short report
Biochemical mis-identification of Brucella melitensis and subsequent laboratory-acquired infections

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Abstract

Brucella species are mis-identified in the API 20NE system as Moraxella phenylpyruvica (profile number 1200004). Since some Brucella spp. grow readily in routine blood culture medium and may be isolated from patients without clinically obvious brucellosis, the risk of laboratory-acquired brucellosis exists. We describe two such cases.

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    The API 20E (bioMérieux, Marcy l'Etoile, France) incorrectly identified the Brucella as Moraxella phenylpyruvica, and the organism was not handled with appropriate safety precautions. Three months later, 1 technologist in Nairobi developed brucellosis, and 5 months later, a 2nd technologist working with the same organism in the reference laboratory in Oxford, UK, became ill (Batchelor et al., 1992). Sniffing cultures was again cited as an assumed risk factor.

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