Tuberculosis in sea lions and fur seals from the south-western Atlantic coast

Tuberculosis in seals caused by a novel member of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex: Mycobacterium pinnipedii sp. nov.

“…Biochemical testing clearly confirmed that the seal isolates belonged to the M. tuberculosis complex. The negative reactions in the nitrate reduction and niacin accumulation tests were consistent with M. bovis (Grange & Yates, 1994) (Table 3), a fact that led to their initial identification as such in Australia (Forshaw & Phelps, 1991), Argentina (Bernardelli et al, 1996) and Great Britain. In some cases, varying amounts of niacin were produced, which is similar to results reported for M. africanum (Grange & Yates, 1994).…”

“…Similar organisms were recovered from captive Southern sea lions (Otaria flavescens), wild South American fur seals (Arctocephalus australis) and a wild Subantarctic fur seal (Arctocephalus tropicalis) in Uruguay or Argentina during the period 1989-2000 (Bernardelli et al, 1994(Bernardelli et al, , 1996Castro Ramos et al, 1998;Bastida et al, 1999). Between 1996 and 1998, M. tuberculosis complex organisms were recovered from two South American fur seals in a zoological collection in Great Britain and a Brazilian tapir (Tapirus terrestris) housed in an adjacent enclosure, and from two New Zealand fur seals in New Zealand in 1997 and 1998 (Hunter et al, 1998).…”

“…These genetic markers are accepted methods of confirming that isolates belong to the M. tuberculosis complex (Thierry et al, 1990(Thierry et al, , 1993 *Very occasionally, members of these species lack the mtp40 gene (Liébana et al, 1996). DSeven of seven isolates (100 %) were negative for mtp40 (Liébana et al, 1996), whereas one isolate tested by Bernardelli et al (1996) was reported as positive. Collins & Stephens, 1991;Cousins et al, 1991;Groenen et al, 1993;Liébana et al, 1996;Gormley et al, 1997;Sreevatsan et al, 1997).…”

“…Many of the isolates obtained from cases of tuberculosis in Australia, Uruguay and Argentina have been wellcharacterized Bernardelli et al, 1996;Cousins, 1996;Alito et al, 1999;Zumárraga et al, 1999) and this information, together with preliminary tests on the seal isolates from Great Britain and New Zealand, suggested that the seal bacillus , isolated from pinnipeds from all four continents, may be a unique member of the M. tuberculosis complex. A recent study of four Australian and six Argentinian seal isolates by fluorescent amplified fragment length polymorphism (FAFLP) has further substantiated the hypothesis that the seal bacillus occupies a unique taxonomic position within the M. tuberculosis complex (Ahmed et al, 2003).…”

Uruguayan Pinnipeds (Arctocephalus australis and Otaria flavescens): Evidence of Influenza Virus and Mycobacterium pinnipedii Infections

“…were obtained in Australian fur seals and sea lions (Arctocephalus pusillus doriferus and Neophoca cinerea respectively) and New Zealand fur seals (Arctocephalus forsteri) in captive and wild conditions (Forshaw & Phelps, 1991;Woods et al, 1995). Successive isolations were made from wild pinniped species in the Southern Hemisphere (Bastida et al, 1999;Bernardelli et al, 1996;Cousins et al, 1993;Hunter et al, 1998;Romano et al, 1995;Woods et al, 1995;Zumárraga et al, 1999). In Uruguay, the first isolation of Mycobacterium spp.…”