Role of infected, non-diseased badgers in the pathogenesis of tuberculosis in the badger.

The lungs and kidneys of 15 badgers which had no visible lesions of tuberculosis but from which Mycobacterium bovis was isolated from pooled collections of lymph nodes were serially sectioned. Lesions of tuberculosis were detected by histopathology in the the lungs of 13 and in the kidneys of one of them. The lesions were mostly typical early stage granuloma-lesions which were considered to be the primary foci of infection. These lesions suggest an early containment phase of arrested development previously not observed and provide further evidence on which to propose a hypothesis for the pathogenesis of tuberculosis in the badger.