1993 Volume 68 Issue 2 Pages 105-107
Attempts were made to identify Mycobacterium avium and Mycobacterium intracellulare in the M. avium-intracellulare complex (MAC) isolated in the Tohoku district of Japan by using DNA probes (Gen-Probe Rapid Diagnostic System) which are specific for M. avium, M. intracellulare and M. tuberculosis complex, respectively. In the Tohoku district, the ratio of M. avium isolates (80%) exceeded that of M. intracellulare isolates. It was thus shown that, in the Tohoku district where no data concerning the ratio of M. avium to M. intracellulare isolates had been available, the ratio of M. avium by far exceeded that of M. intracellulare.
