Pseudo-outbreak of Parengyodontium album related to contaminated saline used in specimen processing in the microbiology laboratory

We report a cluster of 9 isolates of Parengyodontium album recovered from 4 patients who had surgical tissue specimens processed after dilution with a multiuse diluent saline solution. P album was also identified from a nonclinical sample on agar prepared with the same lot number of saline solution. Our epidemiological investigation revealed this to represent a pseudo-outbreak related to contaminated saline used to process specimens in the microbiology laboratory. •Importance of leadership knowledge of product substitutions during back orders.•Rapid investigation of unusual pathogens recovered from more than one specimen.•Multi-disciplinary approach for clinical management of patients when contamination is suspected.