A bedridden patient is brought with complaints of fever with chills. His urinary catheter was changed 2 weeks before. Urinary bag was filled with cloudy urine. Bladder wash was given and the tip of the catheter was sent to the laboratory. Culture shows swarming motion of the colonies. It contains the following organism:

P mirabilis and Proteus vulgaris share the ability to swarm over the surface of media, rather than remaining confined to discrete colonies. This characteristic makes them readily recognizable in the laboratory--often with dismay because the spreading growth covers other organisms in the culture and thus delays their isolation. Swarming along with motility could facilitate the production of UTIs by movement of Proteus up urinary catheters. Ref: (2010). Chapter 33. Enterobacteriaceae. In Ryan K.J., Ray C (Eds), Sherris Medical Microbiology, 5e.