Human pathogenic Mycobacterium kansasii (former subtype I) with zoonotic potential isolated from a diseased indoor pet cat, Japan

Abstract

Mycobacterium kansasii is one of the most prevalent and pathogenic nontuberculous mycobacteria in the world. Herein, we report the first case of M. kansasii infection in an indoor domestic cat in Japan. Complete genome sequence analysis of the isolate showed this pathogen is genetically identical to human pathogenic M. kansasii.

Development of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the diagnosis of feline tuberculosis

“…Positive antibody responses to MPB83 have been reported in cats, but the performance for M. microti-infected cats was poor compared to those infected with M. bovis (Rhodes et al, 2011). It is also possible that NTM could incite responses to this major mycobacterial protein, such as M. kansasii, which has been reported in cats (Lee et al, 2017, Černá et al, 2020, Fukano et al, 2021, and so the concern for single-antigen testing in cats is the potential misdiagnosis of this infection as TB.…”

Systemic Mycobacterium kansasii Infection in Two Related Cats

“…The water supply has not been tested. Another case report of M. kansasii infection in an indoor cat also failed to demonstrate the route of infection [ 33 ].…”

“…Pyrazinamide is not used in the treatment of feline mycobacteriosis as M. bovis is a common cause of disease in this species, and it is naturally resistant to this drug [ 83 , 84 ]. As far as the authors are aware, successful resolution of M. kansasii infection in veterinary species has only been reported twice, in two Black Bearded Sakis ( Chiropotes satanas ), a type of New World monkey [ 29 ], and another indoor cat, which was treated with rifampicin and clarithromycin [ 33 ]. The previous lack of success may have resulted from inappropriate selection of antimicrobials [ 32 ], or inadequate duration of treatment [ 30 ].…”

“…Six subtypes of M. kansasii have been identified, although it has been proposed that these should be elevated to species-level recognition [ 25 ]. While M. kansasii has been identified as causing disease in a number of different animal species [ 23 , 24 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 ], to the authors’ knowledge, it has only been reported four times in the domestic cat; treatment with doxycycline was unsuccessful in one case [ 32 ], but a second cat was successfully treated with clarithromycin and rifampicin [ 33 ]. Clinical outcomes were not reported in the remaining two cases [ 34 ].…”