E anophelis outbreak in an intensive-care unit

摘要

We read with interest Jeanette Teo and colleagues' report (Sept 7, p 855) of the first outbreak of Elizabethkingia anophelis identified by 16SrRNA sequencing and whole-genome alignment. The subgroup of isolates had been previously identified as Elizabethkingia meningoseptica on the basis of matrix-assisted laser desorption-ionisation time-of-flight (MALDITOF) mass spectrometry analysis.The history of this microorganism starts with its description as a cause of infant meningitis by Elizabeth O King at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). She first isolated an organism referred to as CDC group IIa in 1959 and named it Flavobacterium meningosepticum. It was subsequently renamed Chryseobacterium meningosepticum, and classified in the new genus Elizabethkingia, in 2005.