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. 1997 Jun;35(6):1582–1584. doi: 10.1128/jcm.35.6.1582-1584.1997

Investigation of a pseudo-outbreak of Nocardia asteroides infection by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and randomly amplified polymorphic DNA PCR.

L Louie 1, M Louie 1, A E Simor 1
PMCID: PMC229792  PMID: 9163487

Abstract

Molecular strain typing by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and by randomly amplified polymorphic DNA analysis was used to investigate a cluster of four Nocardia asteroides isolates associated with the BACTEC 460 TB system. An instrument motor drive misalignment resulted in inadequate needle sterilization and cross-contamination of BACTEC vials. This pseudo-outbreak illustrates the importance of proper BACTEC 460 needle sterilization and maintenance and confirms the usefulness of molecular typing methods for epidemiologic investigations.

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Selected References

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