Canadian Burkholderia cepacia Complex
Research and Referral Repository

Who we are

The CBCCRRR is directed by Drs. James Zlosnik, Manish Sadaranagni and Mark Chilvers at the Centre for Undertsanding and Preventing Infection in Children, part of the BC Children's Hospital Research Institute and the University of British Columbia.

Contact details

In the first instance contact James Zlosnik at the email address below for all queries regarding the CBCCRRR.

James E.A Zlosnik, PhD Manager and primary scientist, CBCCRRR. jzlosnik@bcchr.ca
Adriana Cabrera, BSc. CBCCRRR technologist. adriana.cabrera@bcchr.ubc.ca

What we do

We can provide species (previously known as genomovar) identification for members of the Burkholderia cepacia complex of bacteria. We also can provide strain typing information, as well as identifications for other species which grow on Burkholderia cepacia selective agar and for which the preliminary identification might be equivocal: such as B. gladioli, Ralstonia species, Pandoraea species and others. Most of our work is for cystic fibrosis clinics, however we are very happy to provide assistance to anyone else requiring identification of these bacteria. Please contact us for more details.

2016/17 Annual report

Our most recent annual report is available for download here: 2016/17 Annual report

New 2015:

*** Thanks to increased funding from Cystic Fibrosis Canada, this service is now available free to all Canadian CF clinics.

Please use the new requistion form available for download at the bottom of this page (now with both French and English versions available).

How to send us isolates:

Samples should be sent on transport swabs (preferrably charcoal) where possible. Please do not send us Petri dish plates. If you have any questions on the submission protocol please do not hesitate to contact us.

All samples must be accompanied by a completed requisition form (see below for forms).

We will normally send the report to both the submitting microbiology lab and the CF clinic, so please list contact details for both on the requisition form.

If you have any questions or concerns, do not hesitate to contact us at any time!

CBCCRRR Sample Submission Check list
Send Requisition form to CBCCRRR@CFRI.CA (see below to download a requistion form), make sure to include;
1. At least two identifying pieces of information that corresponds to your patient Lab accession number
2. Contact Person and email to receive formal report
3. Way Bill Number for tracking
4. Inoculate sample onto Charcoal transport swab, lab with lab accession number on requisition
5. Send sample in accordance to the Canadian Shipping Laws, make sure to include the following information; UN3373 Sticker
6. Biological Substance, Category B Sticker Shipper Name and Address
Consignee Name and Address:
CBCCRRR
950 West 28th Avenue, Room A5-122
Vancouver, B.C V5Z 4H4
Tel: 604-875-2469 Fax: 604-875-2635

7. On the courier invoice make sure to check "Does this package contain Dangerous Goods , Yes but Shipping Declaration is not required"
8. Formal reports will be sent out upon identification by mail, fax or both depending on what is selected on the requisition.

Identification The turn-around time for identification is usually between 7-10 business days. The samples themselves will be frozen down at -80oC for any subsequent testing. If you require immediate strain typing (eg where there are concerns about infection control) please contact us and we will deal with this immediately.

How often should samples be sent? In addition to the first sample from a new infection, we recommend sending samples on an annual basis. This is in accordance with the 2013 US Infection Control Guidelines. The reason for this is that species and strain replacement in the BCC is well described and so it is important to monitor on an on-going basis.

Isolates for research laboratories:

We can supply de-identified clinical isolates to research laboratories for use in experiments. This section will be updated in the future with more details about our collection. As a summary we have over 35 years worth of longitudinally collected Burkholderia samples from people with CF.

Unfortunately we are not able to provide these isolates free, even to collaborators. However we do charge a very low cost and can work with those interested to minimise the cost. There are three options for obtaining isolates:

1. As part of a collaboration

2. Just provision of isolates to academic/non-profit institutions

$50 per isolate plus a single fixed fee of $185 to cover other costs  (which can be reduced to $140 if we are not paying for shipping). For researchers that would just like the isolates for a specific project and would prefer to just acknowledge us.

3. For industry/other for-profits

Higher charges apply - please contact us for details.

Burkholderia cepacia complex(BCC) background: The BCC is an important group of pathogens in immunocompromised hosts, notably those with cystic fibrosis (CF) or chronic granulomatous disease. Lung infections with BCC in certain patients with CF result in rapidly progressive, invasive, fatal bacteremic disease. Furthermore, the bacteria have a potential for patient-to-patient spread, both within and outside the hospital.

B. cepacia is a genetically highly diverse class of bacteria, which is composed of at least 20 different species and discrete groups constituting the BCC. Previously, those that could not be differentiated phenotypically but are genetically distinct were defined as genomovars. As phenotypic differentiation among the genomovars has improved over the past decade, new species designation has been assigned as follows:

genomovar I = B.cepacia

genomovar II = B. multivorans

genomovar III=B.cenocepacia

genomovar IV = B. stabilis

genomovar V = B. vietnamiensis

genomovar VI = B. dolosa

genomovar VII = B. ambifaria.

genomovar VIII = B. anthina

genomovar IX = B. pyrrocinia

other species in the BCC include:

B. ubonensis

B. latens

B. diffusa

B. arboris

B. seminalis

B. metallica

B. lata

B. contaminans

B. pseudomultivorans

B. stagnalis

B. territorii

Download a req. here (note you can fill in these forms by hand or electronically and then print them)

English version: CBBRRR 2015 req.pdf

French version: CBCCRRR 2015 req FR.pdf