Mycobacterium simiae infection in a patient with Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome

mycobacterium simiae is usually an environmental contaminant rarely associated with human disease. we report a fatal case of m.simiae infection in a 37 year old, hiv positive, male from whom the organism was isolated from blood culture. the identification of m.simiae was performed using dna amplification followed by analysis on 3% agarose gel of the amplicon fragments after digestion by restriction endonucleases. the precise identification of mycobacterial isolates to the species level is important, with both epidemiological and therapeutic implications.