Evaluation of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and rep-PCR for the epidemiological analysis of Ochrobactrum anthropi strains.

Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and polymerase chain reaction genome fingerprinting based on repetitive chromosomal sequences (rep-PCR) were used for typing 14 strains of Ochrobactrum anthropi. Six strains isolated during an outbreak of bacteraemia in patients who had received a contaminated rabbit anti-thymocyte globulin gave identical patterns by both techniques. Different patterns were found in sporadic and reference strains, except for one clinical isolate received from another hospital that showed the same pattern as the epidemic clone. This patient had also received rabbit anti-thymocyte globulin from the same source at the time of the outbreak. This study illustrates the advantages of genetic typing methods in terms of high typeability and discriminating power, even for rare pathogens. Furthermore, it highlights the need for interhospital communication for effective identification of common sources of outbreaks related to intrinsic drug contamination.