An Outbreak of Keratitis Caused by Mycobacterium immunogenum

Abstract

ABSTRACT From 8 October to 12 November 2003, 36 patients underwent surgical correction of myopia in a São Paulo, Brazil, clinic. Five patients had clinical signs of infectious keratitis, and a Mycobacterium species with previously unreported patterns determined by PCR restriction enzyme analysis of the hsp65 gene and PCR restriction enzyme analysis of the 16S-23S rRNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) was isolated from corneal scrapings from four of these patients. Subsequent evaluation by phenotypic tests and partial sequencing of the hsp65 , sodA , rpoB , and 16S rRNA genes and the ITS supported the species identification as a variant of Mycobacterium immunogenum . The source of infection was not determined. The outbreak was caused by a single clone, as evidenced by identical pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus-PCR profiles. This is the first report of an outbreak where this species was isolated from infected tissues.