Clinical specimens where organism may be encountered:
- Blood
- Biopsy, skin scraping, or swab
- Lymph node aspirate
- Respiratory secretions - oropharyngeal aspirate, sputum, or bronchial washings
Gram stain morphology:
- Very tiny, gram-negative coccobacillus
- Pale or weak staining
- Due to the small size, often difficult to see individual cells