A collection of eight clinical strains from Belgian hospitals and three clinical strains of the CCUG collection were characterized biochemically as being similar to CDC groups II-h and II-c; the latter differs from group II-h only by positivity for sucrose acidification. These 11 strains were found to cluster according to 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity at a level of >or=99.5%, and on the basis of their tDNA-PCR profile. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, this collection of strains was related most closely to Chryseobacterium hispanicum (97.2%), but they differed from the type strain of this species by the following phenotypic characteristics: growth at 37 degrees C, negativity for xylose acidification, positivity for acetate assimilation-alkalinization on Simmons' agar base and absence of flexirubin pigments, and by their tDNA-PCR profile. Strain NF802T showed only 57.8% DNA-DNA relatedness to the type strain of C. hispanicum. Fatty acid composition did not enable differentiation from C. hispanicum. The DNA G+C content of strain NF802T is 36.5 mol%. The name Chryseobacterium hominis sp. nov. is proposed for this taxon, with type strain NF802T (=CCUG 52711T=CIP 109415T).