Saprochaete clavata outbreak infecting cancer center through dishwasher

Abstract

Saprochaete clavata is a pathogenic yeast responsible for rare outbreaks involving immunocompromised patients, especially those with hematologic malignancies. During February 2016-December 2017, we diagnosed S. clavata infections in 9 patients (8 with fungemia), including 3 within 1 month, at a cancer center in Marseille, France. The patients (median age 58 years), 4 of 9 of whom had acute myeloid leukemia, were hospitalized in 3 different wards. Ten environmental samples, including from 2 dishwashers and 4 pitchers, grew S. clavata, but no contaminated food was discovered. The outbreak ended after contaminated utensils and appliances were discarded. Whole-genome sequencing analysis demonstrated that all clinical and environmental isolates be-longed to the same phylogenetic clade, which was unrelated to clades from previous S. clavata outbreaks in France. We identified a dishwasher with a deficient heating system as the vector of contamination.