Following a 2 week camping trip to the southwest (US), a 65…

Following a 2 week camping trip to the southwest (US), a 65 year old male patient was hospitalized with high fever and an inflammatory swelling of the axilla and groin lymph nodes. Several blood cultures were obtained with the result of growing gram negative rods resembling “closed safety-pins”. The organism grew on MacConkey agar showing non-lactose fermenting colonies. Testing demonstrated a non-motile rod that was biochemically inert. The most likely identification?

A sputum culture grows gray, mucoid, stringy colonies on she…

A sputum culture grows gray, mucoid, stringy colonies on sheep blood.  This isolate grows readily on MacConkey agar, and forms Mucoid, darkpink colonies. The colonies yield the following test results: Oxidase: Negative A/A on Kligler iron agar Citrate: Positive Indole: Negative ONPG: Positive VP: Positive