Detection of Mycobacterium leprae by PCR testing of sputa from a patient with pulmonary cryptococcus coinfection in northern Australia.

A case of fever, sepsis, and chest lesions evident on a computed tomography scan of an indigenous man in northern Australia following burns to the feet is described. Sputum PCR testing revealed Mycobacterium leprae, and a fine-needle aspirate of the chest lesions demonstrated Cryptococcus coinfection.