Bacteria that is highly prevalent in water, Mycobacteria, a genus of Acinobacteria, is a pathogen of concern for immuno compromised humans as it can cause a broad range of serious diseases. ALS Environmental are able to support customers who deal with nosocomial settings by offering a full Mycobacteria speciation at no additional charge to our customers.

Mycobacterium are of concern in healthcare settings due to their antibiotic resistant nature. The bacteria is naturally resistant to penicillin and can be prevalant even in water treated with chlorine. ALS Environmental are able to identify over 40 different species of Mycobacteria including M. bovis (commonly known as Bovine Turbeculosis), M. Gordonae (highly prevalant in soil and water but rarely implicated in disease) and M. Xenopi (associated with immunocompromised infections).

Pervinder Johal, ALS Environmental's Operations Manager for our Microbiology laboratory in Coventry comments:

Mycobacteria analysis is becoming increasingly requested by our customers who deal with healthcare premises. By supporting one of the largest databases in the UK ALS Environmental are able to help our customers in identifying and eradicating this bacteria from nosocmial settings.

ALS Environmental are able to identify such a broad range of Mycobacteria species due to our investment in MALDI-ToF confirmations. This technique allows ALS to instantly confirm the colonies that grow on an agar plate and offer a full speciation for no additional charge. This technique is also used for Legionella, with UKAS ISO 17025 accreditation and all of our other microbiological confirmations with a range of ISO17025 and DWTS accreditation as shown by our UKAS schedule.

ALS Environmental are able to identify the following species of Mycobacteria: