Study of International Cystic Fibrosis Centers Highlights Spread of Aggressive Bacteria (IMAGE)

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Study of International Cystic Fibrosis Centers Highlights Spread of Aggressive Bacteria

Caption

<i>Mycobacterium abscessus</i> has recently emerged as a significant global threat to individuals with cystic fibrosis (CF) and other lung diseases. It was previously thought that patients acquired the infection from water or soil in the environment and that transmission between patients never occurred. Now, by sequencing the whole genomes of over 1,000 isolates of <i>M. abscessus</i> from individuals attending CF specialist centres in Europe, the US and Australia, researchers have demonstrated that the majority of CF patients have acquired transmissible <i>M. abscessus</i> clones, including through airborne transmission at hospitals. This material relates to a paper that appeared in the 11 November 2016, issue of <i>Science</i>, published by AAAS. The paper, by J.M. Bryant at Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Hinxton, UK, and colleagues was titled, "Emergence and spread of a human-transmissible multidrug-resistant nontuberculous mycobacterium."

Credit

Andres Floto (University of Cambridge), Josie Bryant (University of Cambridge), Julian Parkhill (WT Sanger Institute)

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