Cutaneous TB caused by Mycobacterium bovis in a veterinary surgeon following exposure to a tuberculous alpaca (Vicugna pacos)

摘要

TUBERCULOSIS (TB) is an infectious disease caused by members of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, which includes Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium bovis, as well as other Mycobacterium species (de la Rua-Domenech 2006). M tuberculosisis the primary cause of TB in human beings (Gallagher and Jenkins 1998). Although M bovis is primarily a bovine pathogen, it can infect a wide range of animal species and human beings (O'Reilly and Daborn 1995). Of 276 human TB cases reported in south-west England in 2007, 78 (28.3 per cent) were confirmed by culture as M tuberculosis and three (1.1 per cent) were confirmed as M bovis (Tempest and others 2008). The number of M bovis-associ-ated human cases has significantly declined in developed countries, including the UK, as a result of national eradication programmes for cattle, supported by pasteurisation of milk (Gallagher and Jenkins 1998, Robert and others 1999, de la Rua-Domenech 2006, Thoen and others 2006). Nevertheless, M bovis still represents a zoonotic risk for those in close contact with infected animals, mainly as an occupational hazard of pulmonary TB in rural workers and abattoir staff (O'Reilly and Daborn 1995, Cousins and Dawson 1999, Robert and others 1999, de la Rua-Domenech 2006). Transmission of M bovis to human beings from non-bovine animals occurs only sporadically (de la Rua-Domenech 2006).