Isolation of Mycobacterium septicum from the sputum of a patient suffering from hemoptoic pneumonia

A rapidly growing mycobacterium was isolated in pure culture from the sputum of a 78-year-old woman suffering from hemoptoic pneumonia. The isolate exhibited an antimicrobial susceptibility pattern and a biochemical profile similar to that of Mycobacterium septicum ATCC 70073 IT and shared 100% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with this type strain over 1480 bp. Its partial rpoB sequence shared 98.2% similarity with the latter species, suggesting the isolate was representative of a sequevar of M. septicum. Contrary to the type strain, this isolate was resistant to azithromycin, erythromycin, vancomycin and tobramycin. This case illustrates the first isolation from sputum of M. septicum, a member of the Mycobacterium fortuitum group previously isolated once from bacteremia. Strain D13 has been deposited in the Collection de l'Institut Pasteur as CIP 108512. (c) 2005 Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.