# A case report of Herbaspirillum infection in rural Australia

## TL;DR

This paper reports two cases of Herbaspirillum infection in rural Australia and highlights the importance of accurate identification using sequencing techniques.

## Contribution

The paper presents two distinct Herbaspirillum infections in humans and emphasizes the need for advanced identification methods.

## Key findings

- Herbaspirillum species were misidentified by conventional systems but confirmed via sequencing.
- Herbaspirillum is increasingly recognized as a human pathogen in both immunocompromised and healthy individuals.
- Accurate species identification requires whole genome sequencing.

## Abstract

Herbaspirillum is a genus of Gram-negative bacilli typically found in soil, which has recently been recognized as a cause of opportunistic infections in humans, affecting both immunocompromised and immunocompetent individuals.

We report two patients from rural Australia who developed infections caused by two distinct Herbaspirillum species and a review of the literature of human infections caused by this organism. These isolates were misidentified on the Vitek 2 system as Burkholderia cepacia and were identified to the genus level with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF) and 16S PCR. Accurate species identification was confirmed with whole genome sequencing analysis.

Herbaspirillum species are increasingly identified as human pathogens, which can be accurately identified to the species level with sequencing techniques.