Abstract:
Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are common saprophytes found in the
environment, specifically in soil and water. These mycobacteria have recently
been reported to be implicated in opportunistic infections with increasing
frequency, especially in immunocompromised individuals. This study aimed to
find the occurrence of NTM in some selected water sources in the Central
Region of Ghana using treated water from, and water sources employed by the
Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) as the main medium for the study.
Water samples were decontaminated with 4% NaOH solution and cultured on
Löwenstein-Jensen (LJ) slants at 30oC and 37oC for the recovery of Acid-fast
bacilli (AFB). Post-culture Ziehl-Neelsen microscopy was done to identify AFB
from isolates. This was followed by categorization of isolates as NTM using the
Capilia TB-Neo assay. The 360 bp fragment of the rpoB gene was amplified for
17 (30.9%) isolates categorized as NTM and amplified products were separately
subjected to digestion with the restriction endonucleases MspI and HaeIII.
Resulting fragments were compared with those in a standard algorithm and the
NTM species identified were M. celatum, M. gordonae type II, M. simae. M.
genavense and M. kansasii V strain. The results of this study suggest that the
water sources investigated harboured NTM, which can pose a potential public
health hazard especially to immunodeficient individuals.
