[Tuberculous lymphadenitis caused by Mycobacterium bovis].

According to the literature, bovine tuberculosis in man has been an illness of minor importance in Norway, unlike in Sweden and Denmark. This situation cannot be explained, since in former days infected cattle were a problem in the southeastern part of the country in particular. No case of bovine tuberculosis in humans has been reported in Norway since 1940. Recently we have observed a 29-year-old female immigrant from India with cervical lymph node tuberculosis caused by M. bovis. A second case is a 77-year-old Norwegian male. In the 1920s, at the age of ten, he was infected in Norway by drinking raw milk from tuberculous cattle. He developed tuberculosis of the mesenterial lymph nodes. Neither of these patients had tuberculosis in any other part of their body. Previous Norwegian reports, covering eight cases, are summarized.