In the past, no cultivable mycobacteria were isolated from armadillos captured in the state of Florida, U.S.A. But recent findings of acid-fast bacilli (AFB) in the lungs of armadillos infected with Mycobacterium leprae prompted us to undertake this study to determine the correlation between systemic leprosy infection and the occurrence of cultivable mycobacteria in the lungs and stools of these animals. No AFB could be isolated from noninfected animals. Seventy percent of the infected animals developed disseminated infection, but no cultivable mycobacteria were isolated from their livers and spleens. However, cultivable mycobacteria were isolated from the lungs and stools of a large number of armadillos showing disseminated infection. The most common among these were M. gordonae, M. fortuitum, and M. avium. There was a close correlation between the development of disseminated leprosy infection and the occurrence of cultivable mycobacteria in their lungs and stools, perhaps due to the decline in the immune system in these animals in the later stages of infection.
BT - International journal of leprosy and other mycobacterial diseases : official organ of the International Leprosy Association C1 -http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1522365?dopt=Abstract
DA - 1992 Jun IS - 2 J2 - Int. J. Lepr. Other Mycobact. Dis. LA - eng N2 -In the past, no cultivable mycobacteria were isolated from armadillos captured in the state of Florida, U.S.A. But recent findings of acid-fast bacilli (AFB) in the lungs of armadillos infected with Mycobacterium leprae prompted us to undertake this study to determine the correlation between systemic leprosy infection and the occurrence of cultivable mycobacteria in the lungs and stools of these animals. No AFB could be isolated from noninfected animals. Seventy percent of the infected animals developed disseminated infection, but no cultivable mycobacteria were isolated from their livers and spleens. However, cultivable mycobacteria were isolated from the lungs and stools of a large number of armadillos showing disseminated infection. The most common among these were M. gordonae, M. fortuitum, and M. avium. There was a close correlation between the development of disseminated leprosy infection and the occurrence of cultivable mycobacteria in their lungs and stools, perhaps due to the decline in the immune system in these animals in the later stages of infection.
PY - 1992 SP - 244 EP - 9 T2 - International journal of leprosy and other mycobacterial diseases : official organ of the International Leprosy Association TI - Isolation of cultivable mycobacteria from feces and lungs of armadillos infected with Mycobacterium leprae. UR - http://ila.ilsl.br/pdfs/v60n2a10.pdf VL - 60 SN - 0148-916X ER -