Leclercia adecarboxylatacatheter-related bacteraemia in an immunocompromised patient

Abstract

A 34-year-old man on active chemotherapy was hospitalised with fever, chills and rigours after power-washing a pig pen on a farm. His blood cultures grewLeclercia adecarboxylata, a gram-negative rod in theEnterobacteriaceaefamily, which has been isolated from a variety of environments including soil, surface water, as well as in the gastrointestinal flora of farm animals. The likely source of infection was his tunnelled central venous catheter exposed to water contaminated by faeces when he was washing the pig pen. While there have been several cases reported of catheter-relatedL. adecarboxylatabacteraemia, to our knowledge there are very few reports of infection spread in this manner.