Disseminated Mycobacteriosis Caused by Battey Type Mycobacteria

I N THE LAST DECADE, disease produced by my-cobacteria other than Mycobacterium tu-berculosis or Mycobacterium leprae has been recognized as an increasing problem. Since Runyon's (1, 2) separation of these "unclassi-fied " or "atypical " mycobacteria into four groups, it has become clear that most overt human disease produced by these microorgan-isms has been caused by strains belonging to Group I (photochromogens or Mycobacterium kansait) and Group III (Battey bacilli or nonphotochromogens) (2-6). Group III, Battey type mycobacteria, have been recognized as causing pulmonary disease for at least 12 years (7, 8), and infection with these microorganisms is common in individuals residing in the southeastern United States (9, 10). In contrast, disseminated disease due to Battey type mycobacteria is a distinct rarity, the literature containing reference to only eight cases, with only two occurring in adults (3, 1 1-16). It is the purpose of this paper to report a case of disseminated Battey bacillus infec-tion occurring in a 62-year-old woman and to review the pertinent literature. CASE REPORT