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THE ISOLATION AND IDENTIFICATION OF MYCOBACTERIUM AVIUM COMPLEX (MAC) RECOVERED FROM LOS ANGELES POTABLE WATER, A POSSIBLE SOURCE OF INFECTION IN AIDS PATIENTS
Citation:
Glover, N., A. Holtzman, T. Aronson, S. Froman, O. G. Berlin, P. Dominguez, K. A. Kunkel, G. Overturf, G. Stelma, C. Smith, AND M. Yakrus. THE ISOLATION AND IDENTIFICATION OF MYCOBACTERIUM AVIUM COMPLEX (MAC) RECOVERED FROM LOS ANGELES POTABLE WATER, A POSSIBLE SOURCE OF INFECTION IN AIDS PATIENTS. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH RESEARCH 4(2):63-72, (1994).
Description:
Los Angeles water was investigated as a possible source of Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) infection in patients with AIDS. MAC consists of M.avium (MA), M. intracellulare (MI) and Mycobacterium X (MX)(positive for MAC by DNA probe but not MA or MI). The study included 13 reservoirs supplying 90% of the water to the City of Los Angeles, ten major hospitals and 58 dwellings. Water samples were filtered through 0.45 um Millipore filters and decontaminated with either sodium hydroxide and/or oxalic acid and cetylpyridinium chloride. The decontaminated filters were placed on selective Middlebrook 7H10 medium and observed for growth at three and eight weeks. Coccobacillary acid-fast bacilli were subcultured; Tween and nitrate negative isolates were identified by DNA hybridization probes. Eight morphotypes were observed and nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) were recovered from 12 (92%) reservoirs, 54 (95%) homes, and ten (100%) hospitals. Twenty-six (34%) of the NTM were probe positive for MAC. MA was isolated from 70% of hospitals, 9% of dwellings, and 15% of reservoirs. Serotyping and multilocus enzyme electrophoresis results demonstrate a genetic relatedness between some MA water and MA clinical isolates.