Abstract
Few people would dispute the importance of the genus Mycobacteria as a source of human disease. Throughout history, the entire genus has produced important disease with significant morbidity and mortality -tuberculosis, leprosy, Buruli ulcers and, most recently, opportunistic and fatal infections in AIDS. Understandably, Mycobacteria tuberculosis and Mycobacteria leprae, two obligate human pathogens, are probably still the most important representatives of the genus and command most of the attention. Mycobacteria other than M. tuberculosis and M. leprae often produce human disease. In contrast to the decreasing incidence of tuberculosis, the incidence of disease produced by these non-tuberculous, non-lepromatous mycobacteria continues to rise in the western hemisphere1. Still inappropriately called ‘anonymous’, ‘atypical’, etc., these environmental mycobacteria — ubiquitous, saprophytic organisms present throughout nature — are more representative of the genus than their more famous cousins. Environmental mycobacteria is a more accurate term for those non-tuberculous, non-lepromatous mycobacteria that exist in nature.
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© 1989 Kluwer Academic Publishers
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Tomecki, K.J. (1989). Environmental (Atypical) Mycobacteria: Clinical Aspects. In: Harahap, M. (eds) Mycobacterial Skin Diseases. New Clinical Applications: Dermatology, vol 10. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2227-3_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2227-3_4
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
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