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Molecular Typing of Mycobacterium bovis Isolates in Argentina: First Description of a Person‐to‐Person Transmission Case
Author(s) -
Etchechoury I.,
Valencia G. Echeverría,
Morcillo N.,
Sequeira M. D.,
Imperiale B.,
López M.,
Caimi K.,
Zumárraga M. J.,
Cataldi A.,
Romano M. I.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
zoonoses and public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.87
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1863-2378
pISSN - 1863-1959
DOI - 10.1111/j.1863-2378.2009.01233.x
Subject(s) - mycobacterium bovis , tuberculosis , mycobacterium tuberculosis complex , biology , bovine tuberculosis , mycobacterium tuberculosis , tandem repeat , variable number tandem repeat , typing , multiplex , virology , multiplex polymerase chain reaction , transmission (telecommunications) , microbiology and biotechnology , genotype , polymerase chain reaction , medicine , genetics , gene , genome , pathology , electrical engineering , engineering
Summary Bovine tuberculosis is caused by Mycobacterium bovis , a mycobacterium highly similar to M. tuberculosis that belongs to the M. tuberculosis complex. The main host of M. bovis is cattle but it also affects many other mammalians including humans. Tuberculosis in humans caused by either M. bovis or M. tuberculosis is clinically hard to distinguish. During 2004–2005, samples from 448 patients with diagnosis of TB were collected from different regions of Argentina. The PRA technique identified 400 isolates with representative patterns of mycobacterium. The predominant ones were the M. tuberculosis complex, the M. avium – M. intracellulare complex and M. gordonae . Samples with M. tuberculosis complex PRA restriction profiles were analyzed with a multiplex PCR to differentiate between M. tuberculosis and M. bovis . Multiplex PCR identified nine M. bovis . The results allowed the possibility to establish that 2% of pulmonary tuberculosis was due to M. bovis . Isolates of M. bovis from humans were examined using spoligotyping. These isolates presented five different spoligotypes. The main spoligotype was also the most frequently one found in cattle. The remaining human spoligotypes (grouped in clusters) are occasionally found in cattle. Variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) analysis identified five different patterns. By combining the results of spoligotyping and VNTR analysis, we were able to differentiate seven M. bovis isolates. The remaining two M. bovis samples showed the same spoligotype and VNTR profile and belonged to household contacts. An MDR‐ M. bovis was isolated from the samples of these household contacts. The identification of two epidemiologically linked cases of human M. bovis infection suggests person‐to‐person transmission of an MDR‐ M. bovis .