Septic arthritis due to Mycobacterium phlei presenting as infantile Reiter's syndrome

We describe a 7-year-old Peruvian boy who presented with a 2 week history of conjunctivitis, urethritis and arthritis, in whom Mycobacterium phlei was the only organism repeatedly isolated from synovial fluid and tissue and who responded to conventional antituberculous therapy. To our knowledge this is the first documented case of human disease caused by this microorganism.