Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are environmental organisms that can cause opportunistic pulmonary disease with species diversity showing significant regional variation. In the United States, Hawai’i shows the highest rate of NTM pulmonary disease. The need for improved understanding of NTM reservoirs led us to identify NTM from patient respiratory specimens and compare NTM diversity between outdoor and indoor locations in Hawai’i. A total of 545 water biofilm samples were collected from 357 unique locations across Kaua’i (n = 51), O’ahu (n = 202), Maui (n = 159), and Hawai’i Island (n = 133) and divided into outdoor (n = 179) or indoor (n = 366) categories. rpoB sequence analysis was used to determine NTM species and predictive modeling applied to develop NTM risk maps based on geographic characteristics between environments. M. chimaera was frequently identified from respiratory and environmental samples followed by M. chelonae and M. abscessus; yet significantly less NTM were consistently recovered from outdoor compared to indoor biofilms, as exemplified by showerhead biofilm samples. While the frequency of M. chimaera recovery was comparable between outdoor and indoor showerhead biofilms, phylogenetic analyses demonstrate similar rpoB gene sequences between all showerhead and respiratory M. chimaera isolates, supporting outdoor and indoor environments as possible sources for pulmonary M. chimaera infections.

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与室内样品相比，从室外夏威夷环境水生物膜中回收非结核分枝杆菌的回收率较低

非结核分枝杆菌（NTM）是可以引起机会性肺部疾病的环境生物，其物种多样性表现出明显的区域差异。在美国，夏威夷州显示NTM肺部疾病的发生率最高。为了更好地了解NTM储库，我们需要从患者的呼吸道标本中识别出NTM，并比较夏威夷室外和室内场所之间的NTM多样性。从考瓦伊（n = 51），瓦胡岛（n = 202），毛伊岛（n = 159）和夏威夷岛（n = 133）的357个独特位置收集了总共545个水生物膜样品。分为室外（n = 179）或室内（n = 366）类别。脂蛋白B序列分析用于确定NTM种类，并基于环境之间的地理特征将预测模型应用于开发NTM风险图。M.嵌合体被频繁地从呼吸和环境样品，随后鉴定龟分枝杆菌和M.脓肿; 然而，与室内生物膜相比，从室外持续回收的NTM明显要少得多，如莲蓬头生物膜样品所示。虽然室内外淋浴喷头生物膜之间的希氏支原体恢复频率相当，但系统发育分析表明，所有莲蓬头和呼吸道支原体之间的rpoB基因序列相似分离，支持室外和室内环境作为用于肺部可能来源M.嵌合体感染。