Disseminated Mycobacterium celatum (Type 3) Infection in a Domestic Ferret (Mustela putorius furo)

Abstract

Abstract.A 4-year-old male ferret (Mustela putorius furo) had a 6-month history of weight loss and gradual development of depression and coughing. Necropsy findings included pale gray tissue around the distal trachea, multiple nodules in the lungs, a single nodule in the stomach wall, gray foci in the liver, and enlarged lymph nodes. Histologic examination revealed multifocal to coalescing granulomatous inflammation in the trachea, lungs, stomach, liver, and lymph nodes, with acid-fast bacteria in epithelioid cells and macrophages. The acidfast bacteria were identified as Mycobacterium celatum (type 3) using DNA sequence analysis of the 16S ribosomal DNA gene. M. celatum is a recently described mycobacterium isolated mainly from immunocompromised humans. This is the first report of M. celatum infection in an animal.

DisseminatedMycobacterium celatuminfection in a white-tailed trogon (Trogon viridis)

“…The classical tuberculous lesions and well-defined granulomas observed in the trogon are in contrast to the poorly defined granulomas described in humans (for example, Piersimoni et al, 1994;Bonomo et al, 1998) and a ferret (Valheim et al, 2001) infected with M. celatum . Indeed, the lesions present in the trogon are identical to those seen in classical avian mycobacteriosis caused by M. avium (Montali et al, 1976;Tell et al, 2001;Schmidt et al, 2003).…”

“…celatum is poorly known, but the presence of pulmonary lesions in the absence of granulomas in the intestinal tract in this trogon may suggest transmission by inhalation, as was proposed in a ferret (Valheim et al, 2001). In such case, M. celatum would exhibit a pattern similar to that of M. tuberculosis and be in contrast to the typically intestinal origin of infections with M. avium and M. genevense (Tell et al, 2001).…”

“…Originally reported to cause infection mainly in AIDS patients (Piersimoni et al, 1994;Tortoli et al, 1995;Bonomo et al, 1998), the agent has recently been identified as the cause of serious, often disseminated, infection in immunocompetent individuals (Piersimoni et al, 2003). The only report of M. celatum occurring naturally in an animal is that of an adult male domestic ferret with severe disseminated granulomatous inflammation (Valheim et al, 2001).…”

Chromosome- and Plasmid-Encoded β-Lactamases in Capnocytophaga spp

“…Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) reactions were performed using a Ready-To-Go RAPD analysis kit (Amersham Biosciences, Cleveland, OH). Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) (6), antimicrobial susceptibility testing, PCRs, DNA sequencing (8,9,22), isoelectric focusing (18), and Southern hybridization (21) were performed as described previously. Plasmid DNA was isolated by alkaline lysis with a QIAprep Spin miniprep kit (QIAGEN, GmbH, Germany) and the alkaline lysis method of Ish-Horowicz and Burke (11).…”

Antibiotic Resistance in Bacteria Isolated from Subgingival Plaque in a Norwegian Population with Refractory Marginal Periodontitis

“…The preparation, incubation, and reading of the kits were carried out according to the manufacturer's recommendations. To confirm species identification with the API system, partial sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene was also performed as previously described (26).…”