Pseudo-outbreak of Lecanicillium and Acremonium species in orthopedic surgery patients.

Acremonium species cause a variety of human infections, while Lecanicillium species have not been reported as human pathogens. We describe a pseudo-outbreak involving both organisms, highlighting the role and limitations of molecular methods in the characterization of rare fungal isolates. Repeated isolation of these fungi from patient tissue samples raises concerns about exogenous contamination in the hospital environment.