Culture-negative prosthetic valve endocarditis with concomitant septicemia due to a nontoxigenic Corynebacterium diphtheriae biotype gravis isolate in a patient with multiple risk factors.

A 54-year-old female with a prosthetic mitral valve presented with a 3-day history of dizziness, subjective fever, and chills. Blood cultures were positive for a pleomorphic Gram-positive rod. Initial phenotypic testing could only support the identification of a Corynebacterium species.

Lemierre's syndrome mimicking leptospirosis.

Lemierre's syndrome is a suppurative thrombophlebitis involving the internal jugular vein, most commonly associated with Fusobacterium necrophorum, usually a complication of oropharyngeal infections. This syndrome is rare and is often overlooked. We present a case of sepsis mimicking initially severe leptospirosis (Weil's disease) due to acute febrile illness with multiorgan failure and hyperbilirubinemia.

A case of septic arthritis from rat-bite fever in Hawai'i.

Background: Infection associated with a rat bite has been known for centuries. Streptobacillus moniliformis is a zoonotic organism identified in the 20th century as the causative agent of most cases of rat bite fever outside of mainland Asia. There are no previously published cases of this pathogen in Hawai'i.

Oriental cholangiohepatitis from outside of Asia.

Oriental cholangiohepatitis, also known as recurrent cholangitis is exclusively endemic in Asian countries. Sporadic cases have been reported in the United States, however almost all cases have been seen in the Asian immigrants to the United States. We report a 31-year-old male from outside of Asia who developed oriental cholangiohepatitis.

Case report: spinal epidural abscess from Klebsiella pneumoniae.

We report a rare case of cervical spinal epidural abscess due to Klebsiella pneumoniae. While the most likely pathogen is Staphylococcus aureus, 2.5% of CNS infections have been attributed to Klebsiella pneumoniae.