Gey van Pittius Nicolaas C, Perrett Keith D, Michel Anita L, Keet Dewald F, Hlokwe Tiny, Streicher Elizabeth M, Warren Robin M, van Helden Paul D
Department of Science and Technology/National Research Foundation Centre of Excellence for Biomedical Tuberculosis Research/Medical Research Council Centre for Molecular and Cellular Biology/Division of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, PO Box 19063, Tygerberg, 7505, South Africa.
J Wildl Dis. 2012 Oct;48(4):849-57. doi: 10.7589/2010-07-178.
Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex species cause tuberculosis disease in animals and humans. Although they share 99.9% similarity at the nucleotide level, several host-adapted ecotypes of the tubercule bacilli have been identified. In the wildlife setting, probably the most well-known member of this complex is Mycobacterium bovis, the causative agent of bovine tuberculosis. The recently described oryx bacillus is an extremely rare slow-growing member of the antelope clade of the M. tuberculosis complex and is closely related to the dassie bacillus, Mycobacterium africanum and Mycobacterium microti. The antelope clade is a group of strains apparently host adapted to antelopes, as most described infections were associated with deer and antelope, most specifically the Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx). In this study, oryx bacillus was isolated from a free-ranging adult female African buffalo (Syncerus caffer), in good physical condition, which tested strongly positive on three consecutive comparative intradermal tuberculin tests. Upon necropsy, a single pulmonary granuloma and an active retropharyngeal lymph node was found. Comprehensive molecular genetic assays were performed, which confirmed that the causative microorganism was not M. bovis but oryx bacillus. Oryx bacillus has never been reported in Southern Africa and has never been found to infect African buffalo. The identification of this microorganism in buffalo is an important observation in view of the large and ever-increasing epidemic of the closely related M. tuberculosis complex species M. bovis in some African buffalo populations in South Africa.
结核分枝杆菌复合群物种可导致动物和人类患结核病。尽管它们在核苷酸水平上有99.9%的相似性，但已鉴定出几种宿主适应性的结核杆菌生态型。在野生动物环境中，该复合群中最著名的成员可能是牛分枝杆菌，它是牛结核病的病原体。最近描述的羚羊杆菌是结核分枝杆菌复合群羚羊分支中一种极其罕见的生长缓慢的成员，与蹄兔杆菌、非洲分枝杆菌和田鼠分枝杆菌密切相关。羚羊分支是一组明显适应羚羊宿主的菌株，因为大多数已描述的感染都与鹿和羚羊有关，最具体的是阿拉伯羚羊（阿拉伯大羚羊）。在本研究中，羚羊杆菌是从一只身体状况良好的成年雌性非洲水牛（非洲水牛）身上分离出来的，该水牛在连续三次比较皮内结核菌素试验中呈强阳性。尸检时，发现了一个单一的肺部肉芽肿和一个活跃的咽后淋巴结。进行了全面的分子遗传学检测，证实病原体不是牛分枝杆菌，而是羚羊杆菌。羚羊杆菌在南部非洲从未被报道过，也从未被发现感染过非洲水牛。鉴于南非一些非洲水牛种群中密切相关的结核分枝杆菌复合群物种牛分枝杆菌的疫情规模不断扩大，在水牛中鉴定出这种微生物是一项重要的观察结果。
