Nontuberculous mycobacterial infections

Abstract

The nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) comprise over 125 different species that are widely distributed throughout the environment.(1) Over the decades the NTM have been referred to as mycobacteria other than tuberculosis (MOTT), atypical mycobacteria, and environmental mycobacteria. Despite their frequent isolation in the environment and human specimens, the NTM were not widely recognized as a cause of human disease until the late 1950s. Since that time, the number of new species of NTM has grown dramatically primarily related to the availability of DNA sequencing, which has allowed identification of new species simply by detecting relatively small differences in DNA sequences. In addition to the proliferation of new species, the rate of disease related to NTM has also increased in some areas. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2009.