DNA fingerprinting by pulsed field gel electrophoresis and ribotyping to distinguish Pseudomonas cepacia isolates from a nosocomial outbreak

We typed 40 isolates of Pseudomonas cepacia obtained from patients involved in a single outbreak using pulsed field gel electrophoresis and ribotyping. All isolates from the majority of the patients, 16 of 18 (89%), were included in a single group. These typing methods should aid in the clarification of the epidemiology of infection with P. cepacia.