Among 102 episodes of intravenous catheter related bacteraemias documented between January 1989 and July 1996 in children receiving antineoplastic chemotherapy or bone marrow transplantation at G. Gaslini Children's Hospital, Genoa, Italy, were identified seven episodes due to unusual pathogens: Bacillus circulans, Bacillus licheniformis, Brevibacterium casei, Flavimonas oryzihabitans, Porphyromonas asaccharolytica, Comamonas acidovorans and Agrobacterium radiobacter. Susceptibility to different antibiotics of all strains are reported. In all cases catheter removal was required for culture negativization. All episodes were diagnosed in absence of granulocytopenia.