The frequency of recovery of atypical mycobacteria was estimated in two treatment plants providing drinking water to Paris, France, at some intermediate stages of treatment. The two plants use two different filtration processes, rapid and slow sand filtration. Our results suggest that slow sand filtration is more efficient for removing mycobacteria than rapid sand filtration. In addition, our r...

Pathogenic mycobacteria parasitize macrophages and reside within phagosomes, which do not fuse with lysosomal granules. Mycobacteria are also internalized by neutrophils, which possess at least two types of granules, specific and azurophil granules, the latter being specialized lysosomes. Here, we investigated the ability of mycobacteria to inhibit the fusion of these granules with their phagos...

Guidelines have been produced for tuberculosis by the British Thoracic Society (BTS), 2 the American Thoracic Society (ATS), the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, and the World Health Organisation. These, however, deal mainly with Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex infections (M tuberculosis, M africanum, and M bovis). With the exception of the ATS guidelines on non-tub...

Drinking water distribution systems were analyzed for viable counts of mycobacteria by sampling water from waterworks and in different parts of the systems. In addition, loose deposits collected during mechanical cleaning of the main pipelines were similarly analyzed. The study covered 16 systems at eight localities in Finland. In an experimental study, mycobacterial colonization of biofilms on...

BACKGROUND Mycobacterium smegmatis is a rapidly-growing mycobacterium causing rare opportunistic infections in human patients. It is present in soil and water environments where free-living amoeba also reside, but data regarding M. smegmatis-amoeba relationships have been contradictory from mycobacteria destruction to mycobacteria survival. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Using optic and elect...

Recently some mycobactin-dependent mycobacteria were isolated from patients with Crohn's disease. These mycobacteria should be very similar to M. paratuberculosis which is closely related to M. avium. The author has investigated the relationship between M. avium, M. paratuberculosis and the mycobacteria associated with Crohn's disease.