Advancing NTM research with citizen science
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 31, 2026
Methodology for Establishing a Community-Wide Life Laboratory for Capturing Unobtrusive and Continuous Remote Activity and Health Data
Published on: July 27, 2018
1Cadham Provincial Laboratory, Diagnostic Services, Shared Health, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Abstract:
Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) is a generic term for the >200 species of environmental mycobacteria. NTM are ubiquitous, but there is extensive variation in the distribution of individual species. In a recent article published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Wilsey et al. describe how community-based citizen science efforts helped map the distribution of NTM in Hawai'i (R. N. Wilsey, L.-H. Ding, S. N. Dawrs, C. K. Raulerson, et al., Appl Environ Microbiol 92:e00269-26, 2026, https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.00269-26). Mycobacterium chimaera, an opportunistic pathogen and the leading cause of NTM pulmonary disease in Hawai'i, was among the most common species isolated.
