In conclusion, it is important to realize that there is no "stand alone" assay for the identification of NTM. Many new species may not be recognized in all assays. Newer molecular tests are more accurate for identification than phenotypic tests and have significantly improved turnaround time. Clinical significance of an isolate should be determined, however, before committing resources for the ...

Symptomatic disease by nontuberculous mycobacteria has been linked to potable water from institutional and domestic potable water systems. Potable water samples were collected from homes and institutions of patients with AIDS. Colonization of potable water with nontuberculous mycobacteria was demonstrated in 230 (15%) of 1489 samples collected from domestic and institutional water systems of pa...

Atypical mycobacteria, or more correctly nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) species, are a ubiquitous group of environmental organisms that have potential to cause pathological presentations, varying from skin and superficial infections to deeper infections with or without systemic dissemination. Many NTM species are well-recognised pathogens, whereas others are newly emerging and their pathoge...

To determine whether plumbing could be a source of nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) infection, during 2007-2009 I isolated NTM from samples from household water systems of NTM patients. Samples from 22/37 (59%) households and 109/394 (28%) total samples yielded NTM. Seventeen (46%) of the 37 households yielded ≥1 Mycobacterium spp. isolate of the same species as that found in the patient; in 7...

Mycobacterium sp. strain 4858 is a nontuberculous mycobacterium isolated from sputum in a Cambodian patient with a pulmonary infection. We report the first complete 5.6-Mbp-long genome sequence of Mycobacterium strain 4858, with 68.24% GC content, carrying 5,255 protein-coding genes, 47 tRNAs, and 3 rRNA genes.

In Ontario, Canada, during 1998-2010, nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) from pulmonary sites comprised 96% of species/patient combinations isolated; annual rates of isolation and cases increased steadily. NTM isolates from nonpulmonary sites comprised 4% of species/patient combinations; annual rates and cases were temporally stable. NTM increases were driven exclusively by pulmonary isolates an...

To assess the species distribution and epidemiologic trends of nontuberculous mycobacteria, we examined isolates from patients in Taiwan. During 2000-2008, the proportion increased significantly from 32.3% to 49.8%. Associated disease incidence increased from 2.7 to 10.2 cases per 100,000 patients. Mycobacterium avium complex and M. abscessus were most frequently isolated.

BACKGROUND Environmental nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are ubiquitous organisms with which humans commonly interact. The epidemiologic characteristics of NTM diseases including mortality rate and its associated factors remain largely unknown. In this study, we explored the geographical area of exposure and mortality and comorbid conditions of affected persons to determine environment, host,...

Nontuberculous mycobacteria are often underdiagnosed due to lack of proper diagnostic facilities. To overcome this, we created a rapid PCR method for the species-specific diagnosis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and its differentiation from other mycobacteria. A set of PCR primers targeting the gene encoding for early-secreted antigen-6 (ESAT-6) of the M. tuberculosis complex was designed and st...

The database of a major microbiology laboratory in Israel was searched to determine the prevalence of nontuberculous mycobacterial lymphadenitis in immunocompetent children. We observed a 4-fold increase in nontuberculous mycobacteria isolates during 1985-2006, which was attributable mainly to increased detection of Mycobacterium haemophilum starting in 1996.