Unitat mixta d'Investigació IRTA-UAB en Sanitat Animal, Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA), Campus de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Bellaterra, Catalonia, Spain.
IRTA, Programa de Sanitat Animal, Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA), Campus de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Bellaterra, Catalonia, Spain.
BMC Vet Res. 2022 Sep 20;18(1):352. doi: 10.1186/s12917-022-03454-7.
Tuberculosis (TB) due to Mycobacterium caprae is endemic in goat herds and free-ranging wild boars in Spain, causing infections in other livestock or wild animals to a lesser extent. TB infection in foxes is infrequently reported and they are usually considered spillover hosts of TB.
A blind, depressed and severely emaciated red fox (Vulpes vulpes) was admitted to a rehabilitation center. After clinical examination it was humanely sacrificed. At necropsy, generalized TB lesions were observed that were subsequently confirmed by histopathology along with a co-infection with canine distemper virus. M. caprae was isolated from mycobacterial culture and spoligotype SB0415 was identified. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) of the isolated M. caprae was carried out and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) were compared with other sequences of M. caprae isolated from livestock and wildlife of the same area throughout the last decade.
This is the first reported case of TB due to M. caprae in a fox in the Iberian Peninsula. WGS and SNP analysis, together with spatial-temporal investigations, associated this case with recent M. caprae outbreaks in cattle and goat herds of the area. The results indicated transmission of M. caprae between livestock and the fox, suggesting that this species may occasionally play a role in the epidemiology of animal TB.
在西班牙，分枝杆菌引起的结核病（TB）在羊群和野猪中流行，在较小程度上导致其他牲畜或野生动物感染。狐狸中结核病感染的报道较少，它们通常被认为是结核病的溢出宿主。
一只失明、抑郁和严重消瘦的红狐（Vulpes vulpes）被送进了一个康复中心。经过临床检查，它被人道地牺牲了。在剖检时，观察到全身性结核病病变，随后通过组织病理学证实，并与犬瘟热病毒的合并感染。从分枝杆菌培养物中分离出分枝杆菌，鉴定为 SB0415 spoligotype。对分离出的分枝杆菌进行全基因组测序（WGS），并将 SNP 与过去十年同一地区来自牲畜和野生动物的其他分枝杆菌进行比较。
这是在伊比利亚半岛首次报道的狐狸分枝杆菌引起的结核病病例。WGS 和 SNP 分析，以及时空调查，将此病例与该地区最近的牛和羊群分枝杆菌爆发联系起来。结果表明，分枝杆菌在牲畜和狐狸之间传播，表明该物种偶尔可能在动物结核病的流行病学中发挥作用。
