Isolation and identification of Mycobacterium avium complex and other nontuberculosis mycobacteria from drinking-water in Basra governorate, Iraq

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to determine the occurrence of Mycobocterium avium complex and other nontuberculous mycobacteria in drinking-water in Basra governorate, Iraq and their susceptibility to several antibiotics and the effect of 0.5 mg/L of chlorine on their survival. A total of 404 samples of drinking-water were collected from 33 different districts of the governorate from November 2006 to August 2007. Filtered samples were incubated for 7 days or less in a monophasic-biphasic culture setup of tuberculosis broth and Lowenstein-jensen agar. The 252 isolates were identified as M avium complex [21], M. marinum [15], M. kansasii [30], M. simiae [20], M. szulgai [19], M. xenopi [16], M. malmoense [11], M.fortuitum [37], M. chelonae [50] and M. abscessus [33]. Isolates were tested for antibiotic susceptibility as well as their ability to tolerate chlorine at a concentration of 0.5 mg/L The presence of these pathogenic bacteria in drinking-water renders the water unfit for human consumption