Feline tuberculosis: a literature review and discussion of 19 cases caused by an unusual mycobacterial variant

Gunn-Moore, Danièlle; Jenkins, Peter; Lücke, Vanda M.

doi:10.1136/vr.138.3.53

Cited by 93 publications

(137 citation statements)

References 28 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

124

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…GunnMoore et al describe 19 cats from Great Britain in which the signalment, pathology, and geographical location of the cases are remarkably similar to those of our findings below (17). The authors speculate that the cats were infected when hunting prey such as small rodents.…”

supporting

confidence: 78%

Mycobacterium microti : More Diverse than Previously Thought

Crawshaw²,

et al. 2009

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Mycobacterium microti is a member of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex of bacteria. This species was originally identified as a pathogen of small rodents and shrews and was associated with limited diversity and a much reduced spoligotype pattern. More recently, specific deletions of chromosomal DNA have been shown to define this group of organisms, which can be identified by the absence of chromosomal region RD1 mic . We describe here the molecular characteristics of 141 strains of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex isolated in Great Britain over a 14-year period. All strains have characteristic loss of some spoligotype spacers and characteristic alleles at the ETR-E and ETR-F variable-number tandem-repeat (VNTR) loci, and a sample of these strains was deleted for regions RD7, RD9, and RD1 mic but intact for regions RD4 and RD12. We therefore identified these strains as M. microti and show that they have much more diverse spoligotype patterns and VNTR types than previously thought. The most common source of these strains was domestic cats, and we show that the molecular types of M. microti are geographically localized in the same way that molecular types of Mycobacterium bovis are geographically localized in cattle in the United Kingdom. We describe the pathology of M. microti infection in cats and suggest that the feline disease is a spillover from a disease maintained in an unknown wild mammal, probably field voles. The location of the cats with M. microti infection suggests that they do not overlap geographically with the strains of Mycobacterium bovis in Great Britain.In 1946, Wells described a form of tuberculosis found in over 20% of 4,309 voles (Microtus agrestis) collected between 1936 and 1942 from many sites dispersed throughout Great Britain (43). In the same study, over 10% of 223 bank voles (Clethrionomys glareolus, now known as Myodes glareolus [18]), over 2% of 175 wood mice (Apodemus sylvaticus), and 1.5% of 550 shrews (Sorex araneus) were also found to be infected with tuberculosis (43). In all cases, acid-fast bacteria were demonstrated in a stained smear or in culture. For voles with only a single observed site of infection, the lymph glands draining the intestinal tract were most commonly infected; the lungs were a primary site in 11% of animals. The author also describes a second type of disease pathology, an infiltration of the subcutaneous tissue with a white gritty substance full of acid-fast bacteria; in these animals, the skin frequently ulcerates over these masses, and the lungs, liver, and spleen are heavily infected. Transmission of organisms from both wild-caught infected voles and experimentally infected voles kept together with laboratory-bred animals was demonstrated. Infected voles can live for as long as 52 weeks, and the author comments on how extensive tuberculosis can be without producing obvious symptoms. Although we cannot be certain that all the organisms described in the 1946 manuscript are M. microti, although some strains were shown to have distinctive M. micr...

show abstract

supporting

confidence: 78%

Mycobacterium microti : More Diverse than Previously Thought

Crawshaw²,

et al. 2009

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…M. microti can infect a variety of mammalian species, including wood mice (Apodemus sylvaticus), bank voles (Clethrionomys glareolus), and shrews (Sorex araneus) (2)(3)(4)(5). Occasionally, it was also found in llamas, cats, pigs, cows, and dogs (3,(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13). Recently, the widespread host range of M. microti seemed to be increasing, with reports of an infected cat population in England (9,14,15) and with accounts of new hosts, such as squirrel monkeys (16), meerkats (17), and South American camelids (18).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Detection and Molecular Characterization of Mycobacterium microti Isolates in Wild Boar from Northern Italy

et al. 2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Approximately 23,000 hunter-harvested wild boars from the pre-Alpine area of northern Italy were examined for tuberculosis over a 9-year period (2003 to 2011). Retropharyngeal and mandibular lymph nodes from the wild boars were examined grossly, and 1,151 of the lymph nodes were analyzed in our laboratory by histology (728 samples) and culture isolation (819 samples). Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC)-specific PCR (1,142 samples) was used for molecular-level detection in tissue samples, as was a gyrB restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) assay (322 samples). Lesions compatible with tuberculosis and indistinguishable from those described in cases of Mycobacterium bovis infection had been observed since 2003. Mycobacterium microti was identified directly in 256 tissue samples by the adopted molecular approaches. However, only 26 M. microti strains were obtained by culture isolation due to the well-known difficulties in isolating this slow-growing mycobacterium. During 2006, a prevalence study was performed in two provinces of the area, and the diffusion of M. microti was calculated to be 5.8% (95% confidence intervals surrounding the estimated prevalences [CI P95% ], 3.94 to 7.68%). Over the following years (2007 to 2011), the presence of M. microti appeared to be stable. All isolates were genotyped by spoligotyping and exact tandem repeat analysis (ETR types A to F). In addition to the typical vole type (SB0118), a new spoligotype lacking the 43 spacers was found. Spoligotyping was also applied directly to tissue samples, and a geographical cluster distribution of the two spoligotypes was observed. This is the first report studying the diffusion and genetic variability of M. microti in wild boar.

show abstract

“…A coloração de ZN e a imuno-histoquímica demonstraram ser boas técnicas para auxiliar no diagnóstico diferencial da enfermidade. A presença de bacilos álcool-ácido resistentes na coloração de ZN é indicativa da doença (Gunn--Moore et al 1996).…”

Section: Discussão E Conclusãounclassified

Tuberculose em felinos domésticos (Felis catus) no sul do Rio Grande do Sul

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

RESUMO: Descrevem-se os aspectos clínico patológicos de quatro casos de tuberculose em felinos domésticos no Sul do Rio Grande do sul. Foi realizado um estudo retrospectivo dos casos diagnosticados como tuberculose em gatos necropsiados no Laboratório Regional de Diagnóstico da Universidade Federal de Pelotas (LRD/UFPel) no período de janeiro de 2000 a dezembro de 2014. Em dois casos a amplificação da sequência genética IS6110 específica para Mycobacterium tuberculosis demonstrou que a doença era de origem humana. Os outros dois foram positivos para Mycobacterium spp. Os sinais clínicos caracterizaram-se por emagrecimento progressivo, anorexia e dispneia. As alterações macroscópicas evidenciadas eram de caquexia, aumento de volume dos linfonodos submandibulares com áreas focais de aspecto caseoso ao corte. Nos pulmões havia áreas multifocais a coalescentes amareladas de aspecto caseoso, discretamente elevadas e firmes na superfície pleural. Histologicamente havia broncopneumonia e linfadenite granulomatosas. A coloração de Ziehl-Neelsen evidenciou a presença de bacilos álcool-ácidos resistentes. Houve imunomarcação positiva para micobactéria pela técnica de imuno-histoquímica. Alerta-se para a importância da tuberculose felina como um problema de saúde pública pois gatos infectados podem servir de fonte para a disseminação das micobactérias no ambiente, além de serem sentinelas para a ocorrência da enfermidade em seres humanos.

show abstract

Feline tuberculosis: a literature review and discussion of 19 cases caused by an unusual mycobacterial variant

Cited by 93 publications

References 28 publications

Mycobacterium microti : More Diverse than Previously Thought

Mycobacterium microti : More Diverse than Previously Thought

Detection and Molecular Characterization of Mycobacterium microti Isolates in Wild Boar from Northern Italy

Tuberculose em felinos domésticos (Felis catus) no sul do Rio Grande do Sul

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About