Whole genome sequencing of Mycolicibacterium canariasense isolates from Israel

Non-tuberculosis mycobacteria (NTM) are found mostly in soil and water and are considered opportunistic pathogens. ). Mycobacterium canariasense is a rapidly growing Mycobacterium that was first isolated and characterized during 2000-2002 from 17 blood samples from patients in the Canary Islands. In 2018, M. canariasense infections were diagnosed for the first time in Israel in two cases of catheter-related BSI. These reports have raised the concern for a common source related to pharmaceutical materials or devices and have initiated the following investigation. This project includes whole genome Illumina sequencing of 5 M. canariasense isolates from infections diagnosed in 2018-2019 in 3 medical centers in Israel. 4 of these isolates have very similar genome. We could not rule out that they may be clonal, although no common source could be found.