BVS IEC

Mycobacterium bovis is the main causative agent of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) being among the animal-adapted Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. Herds can also be infected with non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) causing a negative effect on the economy and on animal and human health through zoonotic infections. Molecular tools are required for mycobacteria identification; thus, it is laborious to determine the epidemiological information of mycobacteria among herds. We aimed to describe the mycobacterial pathogens associated with cases of suspected bTB lesions in cattle/buffaloes slaughtered for consumption and to investigate bTB transmission. We evaluated 74 lesion samples from 48 animals (27 bovine/21 buffaloes) from 16 mapped farms. Positives samples from nested-PCR were cultured in Lowenstein-Jensen (LJ), 2% pyruvate (LJ + P), and 2% glycerol (LJ + G) media, followed by Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN) staining technique and partial gene sequencing (hsp65, rpoB, and 16S-rRNA). Spoligotyping and 24-MIRU-VNTR were performed. The LJ + P increased the chance of obtaining bacilli. The respiratory tract and the oral cavity were the most important infection route. In addition, the calcified part of the lesions suggested chronic bTB. Spoligotypes of M. bovis (SIT986/SB0885) differed from others found in South America, and the MIRU-VNTR 24 loci suggested that bTB was associated to highly related strains. The NTM species found are of clinical importance in humans. / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa no Pará/Universidade do Estado do Pará (FAPESPA/UEPA) [003/2014], Instituto Evandro Chagas/Ministério da Saúde/Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde (IEC/MS/SVS), Programa Institucional de Bolsas de Iniciação Científica/Instituto Evandro Chagas - Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (PIBIC/IEC-CNPq) and Fundação para o desenvolvimento científico e tecnológico em saúde [PRES-012-FIO-16]. MLC is supported by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior ­ Brazil (CAPES) ­ Finance Code 001, [194 - 88881.187587/2018-01, 2018].