Call for cases of Elizabethkingia meningoseptica

​Date Sent: 02/08/2016 11:56 AM EST
Sender: Michigan Health Alert Network
Subject: Call for cases of Elizabethkingia meningoseptica

The Wisconsin Division of Public Health (DPH) has recently identified a cluster of Elizabethkingia meningoseptica (formerly known as Flavobacterium meningosepticum or Chryseobacterium meningosepticum) infections among patients at multiple Wisconsin hospitals. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) requests that clinical microbiology laboratories conduct a retrospective review of results of blood cultures and specimens recovered from sterile sites (CSF, body fluids, tissue, etc) that were processed from January 1, 2014 to the present time that are positive for Elizabethkingia meningoseptica.

Because this bacterium was formerly known as Flavobacterium meningosepticum or Chryseobacterium meningosepticum and some software programs may still use these terms, please include these terms in these reviews. Elizabethkingia spp. are distributed widely as saprophytes in fresh and salt water, and in soil. In hospitals these bacteria have been noted to be ubiquitous colonizers of patients' environments and have been isolated from a wide variety of objects and fluids including flower vases, ice machines, vials of intravenous drugs, nebulizers, tap water, tube feedings, eyewashes, sink traps and others, and have been cultured from hands of hospital personnel. Nosocomial outbreaks of E. meningoseptica infections have been associated with some of these reservoirs.

Outbreaks have most frequently occurred in nurseries and intensive care units. Please report all positive cases to Jennie Finks or Noreen Mollon at 517-335-8165. Please send all confirmed or suspect isolates of E. meningoseptica (and isolates identified as Flavobacterium meningosepticum or Chryseobacterium meningosepticum) that have been recovered from clinical specimens to the MDHHS Bureau of Laboratories (BOL) for further testing. All unidentifiable Gram negative rods from sterile sites that are catalase and oxidase positive, with a multidrug resistance pattern including resistance to cephalosporins and carbapenems, should be forwarded to the BOL for confirmation. Isolates should be submitted via usual protocol for submission of clinical material to BOL. For questions about the packaging or submission of isolates, please contact the MDHHS BOL DASH Unit at 517-335-8059.

​For specific questions regarding this Health Alert, please contact the Communicable Disease Division, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, 517-335-8165.