Murine Typhus in Drug Detoxification Facility, Yunnan Province, China, 2010

the severity of the gastrointestinal symptoms (4). Moreover, it can mimic the endoscopic and histopathological features of WD (8). In this case, the positive PASstaining, the weak positivity of immunochemical staining for T. whipplei, and the false-positive results for 1 PCR temporarily delayed diagnosis. False-positive PCR results have been mainly reported when molecular diagnosis for T. whipplei was based on 16S rRNA PCR (9). Thus, positivity of a fi rst PCR should be confi rmed by using a second PCR with another target (10). Bacteria responsible for lymph node enlargement are rarely isolated by culture. Molecular methods performed on lymph node biopsy specimens are useful diagnostic tools, but the common single molecular approach using 16S rRNA PCR lacks sensitivity, which delayed diagnosis for this patient (3). To address this issue, simultaneously to performing 16S rRNA PCR, we followed a strategy of systematic qPCR for lymph node specimens that targeted Bartonella spp., F. tularensis, T. whipplei, and Mycobacterium spp. (3). This report confi rms the power of this systematic molecular approach, which enabled us to identify a rare bacterial agent scarcely reported for transplant patients.