From 1991 to 1996, 541 blood samples were tested for the presence of mycobacteria; 56 were positive (30 patients, 26 human immunodeficiency virus positive). The species found were Mycobacterium avium (41 samples from 18 patients), Mycobacterium tuberculosis (12 samples from 9 patients), and three other species (1 sample each). The average time to detection was 25.23 days (22.65 for M. avium and...

Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis and Mycobacterium avium subsp. avium are antigenically and genetically very similar organisms; however, they differ markedly in their virulence for cattle. We evaluated the capacity of bovine macrophages infected with M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis or M. avium subsp. avium to express major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I and class II antige...

Mycobacterium avium is an important pathogenic bacterium in birds and has never, to our knowledge, reported to be isolated from domestic ducks. We present here the complete genome sequence of a virulent strain of Mycobacterium avium, isolated from domestic Pekin ducks for the first time, which was determined by PacBio single-molecule real-time technology.

Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis is the causative agent of paratuberculosis. We report here the draft genome sequence of a rare pigmented M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis type C strain, comprising 58 contigs and having a genome size of 4,851,414 bp. The genome will assist in the execution of pigmentation and virulence studies on this mycobacterium.

A standardized clarithromycin susceptibility test for Mycobacterium genavense is reported. The BACTEC radiometric broth dilution test method recommended for Mycobacterium avium complex was modified to develop a reliable and reproducible procedure. Test development involved optimization of medium pH and inoculum densities for antibiotic vials as well as growth control vials. MIC control organism...

HPLC, which is gaining its place as identification tool in mycobacteriology laboratories, has been proposed to distinguish Mycobacterium paratuberculosis from Mycobacterium avium. We had reported no significant difference between M. avium and M. paratuberculosis reference strain ATCC 19698. Because of the advantages offered by such a method, we enlarged our observations to include more isolates...

Non-tuberculous mycobacterial infections cause morbidity worldwide. NTM are considered opportunistic pathogens, and several species have been associated with human disease which has typically pulmonary, skin and soft tissue, lymphatic or disseminated presentation. This study evaluated the distribution of non-tuberculous mycobacteria in Sardinia. Mycobacterium avium, Mycobacterium gordonae and M...

Cases of tuberculosis due to Mycobacterium avium subsp. avium in 52 adult red deer (Cervus elaphus) from a farm were studied using different diagnostic techniques. Immunological probes consisted of the comparative cervical tuberculin (CCT) skin test, the interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) assay, and 2 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) employing either avian purified protein derivatives or p...

HIGHLIGHTS A multiplex PCR to identifying mycobacteria of medical interest was evaluated. Mycobacterium tuberculosis can be differentiated from other with the assay. The assay showed high sensitivity and specificity in detecting M. avium complex.

Infection with a virulent strain of Mycobacterium avium, but not with virulent Mycobacterium tuberculosis or avirulent Mycobacterium smegmatis, induced the formation of nitric oxide by human monocyte-derived macrophages. This process was not affected by lipopolysaccharide or cytokines such as interferon-gamma or tumor necrosis factor alpha. M. avium-induced nitric oxide production was significa...