Abstract

MARFIL, MJ et al. Isolate of Mycobacterium intracellulare from a bovine lung marketed in a butcher shop from western of Greater Buenos Aires. InVet [online]. 2016, vol.18, n.1, pp.49-58. ISSN 1668-3498.

Sixty two bovine lungs were sampled in one butcher shop and one slaughterhouse from the western region of Greater Buenos Aires. In one of them, purchased in a butcher shop, which showed no lesions compatible with tuberculosis, we obtained an isolate of acid fast bacilli on Stonebrink medium. Mycobacterium avium subsp. intracellulare was identified using polymerase chain reaction restriction analysis and sequencing of the gene encoding 16S rRNA. This species belongs to the Mycobacterium avium complex and is regarded as opportunistic mycobacteria because it usually does not cause clinical signs, but it has been isolated from diseased mammals. This finding in a bovine lung alerts us about the potential risk of transition to animals that consume this type of food raw and to immunosuppressed people who manipulate it.

Keywords : Mycobacterium intracellulare;; Polymerase chain reaction;; Molecular typing.