Epidemiology of Nontuberculous Mycobacteria in French Polynesia

As few data are available in the Pacific countries and territories of the Oceania region regarding nontuberculous mycobacteria,we retrospectively identified 87 such isolates from French Polynesia from 2008 to 2013 by hybridization using DNA-strip, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) and partial rpoB gene sequencing. Partial rpoB gene sequencing classified 42/87 (48.3%) isolates in the Mycobacterium fortuitum complex, 28 (32.2%) in the Mycobacterium abscessus complex, 8 (9.2%) in the Mycobacterium mucogenicum complex, and 5 (5.7%) in the Mycobacterium avium complex. Two isolates were identified as Mycobacterium acapulcensis and Mycobacterium cosmeticum by partial 16S rRNA gene sequencing. One isolate, unidentified by MALDI-TOF MS and yielding less than 92% and 96% sequence similarity with rpoB and hsp65 reference sequences, respectively, was regarded as a potentially new species. Samples from three patients exhibiting>2 Mycobacterium porcinum isolates and from one patient with emphysema and a lung abscess exhibiting 2 Mycobacterium senegalense isolates fulfilled the American Thoracic Society microbiological criteria for nontuberculous mycobacterial lung infection.Remote geographic areas, such as French Polynesia, are potential sources for the discovery of new mycobacterial species.