A fatal misidentification: Burkholderia pseudomallei misidentified as Acinetobacter spp.

A middle-aged uncontrolled diabetic with chronic kidney disease presented with high-grade fever, skin abscesses and cough for two weeks. His blood cultures grew Burkholderia pseudomallei. A few weeks prior, blood cultures drawn for PUO workup elsewhere grew an organism identified as Acinetobacter sp with an unusual susceptibility pattern. His fever responded to a short course of meropenem. In retrospect, the earlier blood culture had likely misidentified B.pseudomallei as Acinetobacter sp given the background history, risk factors and the peculiar susceptibility report. Through this case, we discuss important aspects of melioid diagnostics which may be clinically relevant to establish this diagnosis.