Aureobacterium masquerading as 'Corynebacterium aquaticum' infection: casereport and review of the literature

A gram-positive bacillus was isolated repeatedly from blood taken through t he lumina of a central venous catheter of a patient with multiple myeloma w ho developed febrile neutropenia following chemotherapy. The bacterium was identified by the API CORYNE system as 'Corynebacterium aquaticum'. Gene an alysis targeting the 16S rRNA indicated that the organism had a 99.5% ident ity with Aureobacterium liquefaciens although there were two phenotypic cha racteristics at variance with the description of this species. Problems rem ain with the routine identification of 'C. aquaticum' and Aureobacterium sp ecies. The few clinical reports on patients infected with 'C. aquaticum' an d A. liquefaciens indicate that these are rare infections often associated with immunocompromise.