This is primarily an FYI on acid fast bacteria.  
Having worked as a microbiologist for almost 10 years, I know something
about the bacteria that cause TB & leprosy (the acid fast organisms).  I do
not believe ANY bacteria from a control tissue could ever contaminate a
waterbath or another tissue section or a staining solution.  But
Mycobacteria spp, (the acid fast bugs) are intracellular parasites, i.e.,
they grow INSIDE the cells.   The property of being acid fast is a
diagnostic feature of the genus Mycobacteria and all species in this genus
are intracellular parasites.  They cannot reproduce outside of a living
cell.  They may float around  in a moribund state, but that is not living
and they most certainly cannot reproduce in such a condition.  To the best
of my knowledge, there are not any acid fast bacteria that are associated
with water.  Can some be found floating in water somewhere?  possibly, but
I would be really concerned about how they got there.   There are plenty of
gram negatives that are associated with water and the big slime producers
in water containers are the Pseudomonads  and Flavomonas spp. (gram
negatives) as well as some  yeasts.   Mycobacteria??  No.  Now, there may
be other bacteria that are acid fast, but I cannot think of any other than
Mycobacteria.  

Just thought you might like to know...
Connie McManus




At 01:49 PM 1/3/02 -0500, Noreen Gilman wrote:
>     I've got an unusual problem and I hope  you guys can help me.   I have
>never had a problem like this before. I'm at my wits  end. Any suggestion
>are very welcome. Noreen   Noreen S. Gilman, HT (ASCP) CLS
>Broward General Medical Center
>Ft.  Lauderdale, FL 3316
>954-355-5592 Phone
>954-355-4139 Fax
>ngilman@nbhd.org 

Veterinary Diagnostics Lab
Utah State University
Logan, UT
USA
fax (435) 797-2805