Current methods used for the Mycobacterium kansasii complex (MKC) species identification lack the resolution to differentiate between individual MKC species and require time-demanding multiple steps and costly analyses. Herein, we present a novel one-step multiplex PCR assay that enables rapid and cost-effective species-level identification of MKC members, suitable for implementation in both clinical diagnostics and epidemiological investigations. The method was evaluated using 143 Mycobacterium strains, including 17 reference strains and 126 clinical or environmental isolates. It accurately identified the vast majority (98%) of strains, with only two atypical M. kansasii subtype IIB isolates misidentified as M. persicum. The calculated sensitivity and specificity of the assay were 98% and 100%, respectively.
Wałpuska et al. (Thu,) studied this question.