Human-to-human transmission of tuberculosis caused by Mycobacterium bovis in immunocompetent patients.

ABSTRACT

Human-to-human transmission of Mycobacterium bovis in two immunocompetent patients from the same family was confirmed by spoligotyping (pattern F35, which was only observed in cattle from the same area in France). A single allelic difference between animal and human isolates was observed with mycobacterial interspersed repetitive units containing variable-number tandem repeats, suggesting a jump across the species barrier.