{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,16]],"date-time":"2026-10-16T16:25:36Z","timestamp":1792167936819,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":44,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,23]],"date-time":"2023-03-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1679529600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"the Universidad de las Am\u00e9ricas in Quito, Ecuador"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Pathogens"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) lung infections are often misdiagnosed as tuberculosis, which can lead to ineffective antibiotic treatments. In this report, we present three cases of NTM lung infections in Ecuador that were initially diagnosed and treated as tuberculosis based on the results of sputum smear microscopy. The patients, all male, included two immunocompetent individuals and one HIV-positive subject. Unfortunately, sputum culture was not initiated until late in the course of the disease and the cause of the lung infection, Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC), was only identified after the patients had either passed away or were lost to follow-up. These cases are the first documented cases of NTM lung infections in the English medical literature from Ecuador. We emphasize the importance of accurate diagnosis of NTM infections by culture and identification to species level. Sputum smear staining alone cannot differentiate between mycobacterial species, which can lead to misidentification and ineffective treatments. Additionally, reporting NTM pulmonary disease as a notifiable disease to national TB control programs is recommended to obtain accurate prevalence data. These data are critical in determining the importance of this public health problem and the necessary actions needed to address it.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/pathogens12040507","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,23]],"date-time":"2023-03-23T03:07:57Z","timestamp":1679540877000},"page":"507","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":7,"title":["First Case Reports of Nontuberculous Mycobacterial (NTM) Lung Disease in Ecuador: Important Lessons to Learn"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8613-8796","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gustavo","family":"Echeverria","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto de Investigaci\u00f3n en Zoonosis-CIZ, Universidad Central del Ecuador, Quito 170518, Ecuador"},{"name":"Programa de Doctorado, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires C1063ACV, Argentina"},{"name":"Divisi\u00f3n Investigaci\u00f3n y Desarrollo, BioGENA, Quito 170509, Ecuador"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Veronica","family":"Rueda","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto de Investigaci\u00f3n en Zoonosis-CIZ, Universidad Central del Ecuador, Quito 170518, Ecuador"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wilson","family":"Espinoza","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departamento de Tuberculosis, Hospital de Especialidades Eugenio Espejo, Quito 170401, Ecuador"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Carlos","family":"Rosero","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departamento de Tuberculosis, Hospital de Especialidades Eugenio Espejo, Quito 170401, Ecuador"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mart\u00edn J.","family":"Zum\u00e1rraga","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto de Agrobiotecnolog\u00eda y Biolog\u00eda Molecular, IABIMO, INTA-CONICET, Buenos Aires C1063ACV, Argentina"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4118-1015","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jacobus H.","family":"de Waard","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departamento de Tuberculosis, Instituto de Biomedicina \u201cJacinto Convit\u201d, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas 1010, Venezuela"},{"name":"One Health Research Group, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Las Am\u00e9ricas (UDLA), Quito 180602, Ecuador"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,3,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1043","DOI":"10.1080\/22221751.2019.1637702","article-title":"Comprehensive subspecies identification of 175 nontuberculous mycobacteria species based on 7547 genomic profiles","volume":"8","author":"Matsumoto","year":"2019","journal-title":"Emerg. 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