Tuberculosis Caused by <i>Mycobacterium bovis</i>

Abstract

At the Mayo Clinic, from 1954 through 1968, six patients with infection caused by Mycobacterium bovis were identified from among 2,086 persons with bacteriologically proved tuberculosis. Four patients were born in the United States and two in Europe; all were adults. The cultures were typically dysgonic and were inhibited by glycerine. Tests for niacin production, for nitrate reduction, and for nicotinamidase were negative. Each culture was inhibited in vitro by thiophene-2-carboxylic acid hydrazide. In animal pathogenicity studies each culture produced fatal disease in rabbits and guinea pigs. Good results were obtained in three patients by treatment with streptomycin, para-aminosalicylic acid, and isoniazid, or with a combination of two of these agents. One patient died of Hodgkin's disease and two were lost to follow-up.