Atypical tuberculosis is a disease caused by organisms in genus mycobacterium but are different from mycobacterium tuberculosis.  They are not passed from person to person and are generally referred to as non-tuberculosis mycobacterium (NTM) or mycobacterium other than tuberculosis (MOTT).

Though all of them are acid-fast bacilli, and may closely resemble M. tuberculosis when examined microscopically, they differ from each other in their growth requirements and growth characteristics on culture,  time required to grow in culture media and biochemical and genetic characteristics. [Read more...]