Applying the One Health Concept to Mycobacterial Research – Overcoming Parochialism

Abstract

Mycobacterial infections remain a public health problem. Historically important, globally ubiquitous and with a wide host range, we are still struggling to control mycobacterial infections in humans and animals. While previous reviews have focused on individual mycobacterial infections in either humans or animals, a comprehensive review of the zoonotic aspect of mycobacteria in the context of the One Health initiative is lacking. With the purpose of providing a concise and comprehensive resource, we have collated literature to address the zoonotic potential of different mycobacterial species and elaborate on the necessity for an inter-sectorial approach to attain a new vision to combat mycobacterial infections.

Evidence of fish and human pathogens associated with doctor fish (Garra rufa, Heckel, 1843) used for cosmetic treatment

“…In particular, M. marinum was detected in all three tested batches and M. goodii in one batch. Mycobacteria and especially M. marinum are well‐known causes of disease in humans through contact with fish and the aquatic environment (Sunil et al, ; Thirunavukkarasu, Plain, de Silva, Marais, & Whittington, ; Verner‐Jeffreys et al, ). To the best of our knowledge, M. goodii has not been detected in fish to date; on the contrary, it is an emerging nosocomial human pathogen (Salas & Klein, ).…”

BCG vaccination for bovine tuberculosis; conclusions from the Jerusalem One Health workshop

“…The German pathologist Rudolph Virchow coined the term “zoonosis” to describe diseases common to humans and animals (Thirunavukkarasu, Plain, de Silva, Marais, & Whittington, ); preceding our appreciation that the majority of infectious diseases affecting humans today have an animal origin (Wolfe, Dunavan, & Diamond, ). In recent times growing international trade and travel, as well as increased ecosystem fragmentation and human–animal contact, have facilitated the emergence and spread of pathogenic organisms (Hill‐Cawthorne, Capon, Sorrell, & Marais, ; Rabinowitz, Scotch, & Conti, ).…”

“…In recent times growing international trade and travel, as well as increased ecosystem fragmentation and human–animal contact, have facilitated the emergence and spread of pathogenic organisms (Hill‐Cawthorne, Capon, Sorrell, & Marais, ; Rabinowitz, Scotch, & Conti, ). The “One Health” concept acknowledges that the health of humans and animals is closely interlinked and emphasizes the fact that all animals (including humans) provide a potential reservoir for pathogenic species (Thirunavukkarasu et al., ). Bovine tuberculosis presents a classic One Health challenge, since disease reduction in cattle will improve bovine health, and at the same time will reduce health risks to humans and wildlife.…”

Non-tuberculous Mycobacteria can Cause Disseminated Mycobacteriosis in Cats

“…Tuberculosis can cause organ-specific infections, systemic infections or classical granulomatous pulmonary infections (Fitzgerald et al, 2010;Pesciaroli et al, 2014). MTC species are closely related to each other with a high sequence similarity (Esteban and Muños-Egea, 2016) and all of them have an established zoonotic potential (Thirunavukkarasu et al, 2017). M. tuberculosis is the most common cause of tuberculosis in man, but M. bovis has been found in 5e10% of cases (Esteban and Muños-Egea, 2016) and M. microti has been described in over 20 human cases (Esteban and Muños-Egea, 2016).…”

“…The Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) is the most common NTM in man (Daley, 2017;Koh, 2017), but a multitude of NTM species are known to cause disease (Koh, 2017;Thirunavukkarasu et al, 2017). NTM infections affect both immunocompromised and immunocompetent patients (Koh, 2017) and the incidence of NTM isolates in human samples has been rising (Shah et al, 2016).…”