Abstract
Isolated instances of human infection with atypical mycobacteria have been appearing in the literature for many years (1-3). Their frequency was not appreciated until the introduction of the new antituberculosis drugs, which necessitated the isolation of a culture from each patient to establish its degree of susceptibility to the drugs. The first mycobacterium to be recognized in this group was Mycobacterium fortuitum, isolated from man by Cruz in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1938 ( 4), although it had previously been isolated from abscesses in cows in England by Minett (5). The first series of cases found in man in this country was reported from Chicago by Kushner and his associates in 1957 (6). M. fortuitum is unique among the pathogenic mycobacteria in its rapidity of growth. Good growth often occurs in seven to ten days. The colonies are not pigmented; consequently, they are readily mistaken for M. tuberculosis if the culture is not examined until after three or four weeks. The next of the new organisms to gain recognition was the yellow bacillus of Buhler and Pollak (7), which was described as a photochromogen by Runyon (3) and named Mycobacterium kansasii by Hauduroy (8). The third Mycobacterium to be differentiated was the nonphotochromogen now known as the Battey bacillus. This organism was isolated from a large series of patients in the Battey Tuberculosis Hospital in Georgia (9, 10). The fourth member of the group was isolated
Published Version
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