Two consecutive outbreaks of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (Xanthomonas maltophilia) in an intensive-care unit defined by restriction fragment-length polymorphism typing.

Objective: To investigate and control consecutive outbreaks of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia infections in intensive-care-unit (ICU) patients.

Design: Epidemiological investigation; restriction fragment-length polymorphism typing by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) of genomic DNA of outbreak strains; institution of infection control measures to limit spread.

Setting: The medical-surgical ICU in an 800-bed tertiary-care center in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.