Two Cases of Cutaneous Nocardiosis After a Natural Disaster

Skin and soft tissue infections have been well-documented after natural disasters; however, to the best of our knowledge, Nocardia brasiliensis (N. brasiliensis) is not included in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) list of environmental pathogens associated with tropical storms. In this report, we describe two cases of N. brasiliensis lymphadenitis that occurred four to six weeks after Hurricane Irma hit Manatee County, Florida. Since N. brasiliensis skin and soft tissue infections are typically very uncommon in our patient population, we concluded that cases of N. brasiliensis could increase after tropical storms, and we suggest that this pathogen is to be included in the CDC’s list of environmental pathogens associated with natural disasters.