Anomalous but helpful findings from the BBL Crystal ID kit with Haemophilus spp

Fourteen strains of Haemophilus (12 H. influenzae, 1 H. parainfluenzae and 1 H. aphrophilus) were processed in BBL Crystal ID Enteric/Nonfermenter, API 20E and API 20NE kits, to determine whether the BBL kit misidentifies, as API kits may do, Haemophilus spp. as Pasteurella spp. The 13 H. influenzae and H. parainfluenzae strains produced uninterpretable colour reactions in the Crystal kit, thus signalling that an inappropriate species had been tested. On the other hand, the API kits (especially 20NE) often confidently "identified' Haemophilus spp. as Pasteurella spp., giving no warning that this was a misidentification.