Diptera as vectors of mycobacterial infections in cattle and pigs

Abstract

Mycobacteria were isolated from 14 (4.5%) of 314 samples, containing 7791 adult Diptera, which were collected in the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1997-2000. These flies were collected from three cattle herds with paratuberculosis, two pig herds with mycobacterial infections and one farm that kept both cattle and pigs and that did not have problems of mycobacterial infections. Mycobacterium intracellulare was isolated from Eristalis tenax Linnaeus (Diptera: Syrphidae) captured from a pig herd. Mycobacterium avium ssp. avium (serotype 8) was isolated from flies of the genera Drosophila Fallen (Diptera: Drosophilidae) and Musca Linnaeus (Diptera: Muscidae) originating from a pig herd. Mycobacterium spp. were isolated from Musca spp. and Mycobacterium fortuitum was isolated from dung flies of the genus Scatophaga Meigen (Diptera: Scatophagidae), Musca spp. and Stomoxys calcitrans Linnaeus (Diptera: Muscidae) captured in the same herd. Mycobacterium scrofulaceum was isolated from S. calcitrans from the farm with both cattle and pigs. Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis was isolated from Scatophaga spp. collected from pastures grazed by one of the cattle herds and from Calliphora vicina Robineau-Desvoidy (Diptera: Calliphoridae) and Lucilia caesar Linnaeus (Diptera: Calliphoridae) captured in a slaughterhouse, where cattle infected with paratuberculosis were slaughtered. Mycobacterium phlei was isolated from flies of the genus Lucilia captured at a waste bin. These data indicate that mycobacteria may be spread by adult flies that have been in contact with material contaminated with these pathogens.

Isolation of conditionally pathogenic mycobacteria from the environment of one pig farm and the effectiveness of preventive measures between 1997 and 2003

“…avium (MAA) of serotypes 1, 2 and 3 and of genotype dnaJ+, IS901+ and IS1245+. The main sources of the causative agent of avian tuberculosis are infected domestic and wild birds and small rodents (Pavlik et al, 2000;Fischer et al, 2001;Mijs et al, 2002;Matlova et al, 2003;Bartos et al, 2006;Dvorska et al, 2007).…”

“…The sources of MAH, the causative agent of avian mycobacteriosis, are mostly various components of the life environment: water, soil, bedding, dust and invertebrates (Horvathova et al, 1997;Kazda, 2000;Pavlik et al, 2000;Fischer et al, 2001;Matlova et al, 2003;Trckova et al, 2004Trckova et al, , 2005Trckova et al, , 2006aSkoric et al, 2007).…”

“…gordonae, M. terrae, M. chelonae, M. smegmatis, M. phlei and M. scrofulaceum may participate in the formation of tuberculous lesions in domestic and wild pigs (Wayne and Kubica, 1986;Horvathova et al, 1997;Kazda, 2000;Fischer et al, 2001;Matlova et al, 2003;Pavlik et al, 2003;Trcka et al, 2006). Besides mycobacteria, tuberculoid lesions may be also caused by other microorganisms present in soil, such as Rhodococcus equi (Dvorska et al, 1999;Pavlik et al, 2003;Shitaye et al, 2006).…”

“…Another significant source of CPM may be contaminated feed and water (Dalchow, 1988;Pavlik et al, 2003;Matlova et al, 2003;Trckova et al, 2006a,b), peat and kaolin fed as supplements Trckova et al, 2004Trckova et al, , 2005Trckova et al, , 2006a and soil in pens (Horvathova et al, 1997;Matlova et al, 2003). Mycobacteria may spread through various invertebrate species: earthworms (Fischer et al, 2003a), dipterous insects (Fischer et al, 2001(Fischer et al, , 2004a(Fischer et al, ,b, 2005(Fischer et al, , 2006Machackova et al, 2004), cockroaches (Fischer et al, 2003a), beetles (Fischer et al, 2003b(Fischer et al, , 2004b and other invertebrates (Kazda, 2000).…”

Zoonotic aspects of Mycobacterium bovis and Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare complex (MAC)

“…Members of MAC were isolated from Diptera (see Tab. II) collected from both cattle herds infected by Map and M. intracellulare and cattle without mycobacterial infections [53]. Earthworms constitute a significant component of soil organisms.…”