Dr. Robert Cooksey and Dr. Jacobus H. de Waard, along with their research teams in the Centre for Disease Control and Preventions’s Mycobacterial lab in the USA and Instituto de Biomedicina in Caracas, Venezuela discovered the M. cosmeticum bacterium, which can thrive in salons, healthcare and clinic settings. This species is the newest identifiable mycobacterial organism to thrive in these settings, joining other rapid growing species, Mycobacterium fortuitum, Mycobacterium chelonae, and Mycobacterium abscessus, that have been found in previous outbreaks. These organisms are very persistent in the environment and can survive unusually harsh environmental conditions. The antibiotic therapy can go on for many months or even years. It very often requires an incision to remove the abscess.
