Cutaneous tuberculosis (TB) may present in various clinical manifestations. Skin involvement may occur as a result of exogenous inoculation, contiguous spread from a nearby focus of infection, or by hematogenous spread from a distant focus. Because the clinical presentation of cutaneous TB can vary widely, it is important to have a high index of suspicion in appropriate clinical settings. In this chapter, the various clinical manifestations of clinical TB are classified by source of infection (exogenous, endogenous, and hematogenous spread). These are linked to the clinical appearance and histology of the skin lesions. Hopefully, this will resolve the confusion created by the myriad of terms previously used in the medical literature. Once a diagnosis of cutaneous TB is entertained, a biopsy for both culture and histopathology should be submitted. In some cases histopathology may show nonspecific inflammation without classic granuloma formation. In these cases, monoclonal antibodies and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing may be useful. In fact, in recent years, PCR amplification has proven to be invaluable in assisting identification of M. tuberculosis from skin biopsies in patients with negative TB cultures. In most instances, treatment of cutaneous TB requires combination chemotherapy. This is especially important in patients with extra cutaneous disease, multiple skin lesions, and those with profound immunosuppression. Surgery also may play both a diagnostic and therapeutic role.

A total of 122 human and animal Salmonella Typhimurium DT104 isolates and 6 epidemiologically related DT104b isolates from human and animal products were analysed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Genomic DNA was subjected to macrorestriction with three enzymes, SpeI, SfiI and XbaI. A total of 14 restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) profiles were identified when the PFGE patterns from the three enzymes were combined. The majority of isolates (81.2%) exhibited the same RFLP profile. Six animal DT104 isolates, susceptible to enrofloxacin and resistant to naladixic acid, were identified from the antibiotic susceptibility test. Four of these isolates had a different PFGE profile from the common RFLP. In addition, 4 of the 6 isolates were geographically clustered in one region. It was concluded that there was one predominant strain of S. Typhimurium DT104 in Ireland and that the potential and selection pressures for emergence of fluoroquinolone-resistant isolates were present.

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