Nocardiosis

Excerpt

Nocardiosis is a disease affecting different organs of the body. It is an infectious disease caused by Nocardia, which is a gram-positive bacillus with a branching hyphae morphology found throughout the environment in soil, decomposing vegetation, and other organic matter. It is also found in both fresh and salt water. Nocardia is typically weak acid-fast positive on microscopy with staining. Classically, Nocardia manifests as an opportunistic infection in immunocompromised hosts and can impact nearly every part of the human body including skin and skin structures, the pleural or pulmonary system, or it can be a disseminated disease impacting other organ systems.