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To investigate cross-colonization with and persistence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in cystic fibrosis (CF), 181 isolates from 76 CF patients were typed using a P. aeruginosa-specific DNA probe. Whereas sibling pairs predominantly harboured genotypically identical P. aeruginosa strains, all of the other patients harboured different strains. Seventy-nine per cent (22/31) of the infected CF patients harboured the same strains at the beginning and the end of a summer camp. A change of strains was seen in 10% (3/31) of the patients at the end of the camp. Forty-six per cent (6/13) of the patients who were apparently initially uninfected, acquired P. aeruginosa by the end of the period. Genotyping proved that strain change or acquisition was due to cross-colonization in four of nine cases. Very little P. aeruginosa was isolated from the inanimate environment. Persistence of P. aeruginosa after a temporary loss due to antibiotic therapy was seen in 12/16 paired patient strains before and after antibiotic therapy. Thus, suppression followed a flare-up seemed to occur in these patients rather than eradication and a new infection. When 35 patients were followed over a period of 6 months, 7 (20%) changed the strain in their sputum. Only one of 43 patients harboured two different P. aeruginosa strains simultaneously over a long period.