Evaluation of a chromogenic agar medium for the detection of <i>Burkholderia cepacia</i> complex from industrial samples

Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc) bacteria are opportunistic pathogens that particularly affect people with cystic fibrosis and other immunosuppressed patients. These bacteria are also frequent contaminants of industrial products such as medicines and cosmetics, posing a risk to patients and raising public health concerns. Due to numerous outbreaks caused by contaminated products reported worldwide, the absence of Bcc in drugs has become mandatory under various codifications. For example, the US Pharmacopoeia recently incorporated testing for Bcc detection in non-sterile products (USP < 60 >). Detection of Bcc usually involves the use of the Burkholderia cepacia selective agar (BCSA), a selective but non-differential culture medium. In this study, we compared a recently developed chromogenic agar, CHROMagar™ B.cepacia, with BCSA for the recovery of Bcc and inhibition of non-Bcc species. We also evaluated both media for the detection of Bcc in artificially contaminated pharmaceutical and cosmetic samples. Both media exhibited similar inhibitory properties. Notably, all Bcc isolates in this study developed blue-green colonies on CHROMagar™ B.cepacia, enabling rapid and presumptive identification. These results suggest that CHROMagar™ B.cepacia could be a valuable tool for the rapid detection of Bcc in industrial samples.