Herbaspirillum

Background

• Genus of Gram-negative bacillus within the class Betaproteobacteria
• Oxidase-positive and afermentative
• Environmental, associated with maize and rice
• Generally non-pathogenic
• Case reports of infections in humans, mostly in cystic fibrosis or immunocompromised patients1

Clinical Manifestations

• Bacteremia without clinical focus
• Central line infection
• Pneumonia

Management

• May be misidentified as a Burkholderia, but with much less resistance
• Likely reasonable to start broad with piperacillin-tazobactam or meropenem and then narrow based on susceptibilities