Disseminated Mycobacterium ulcerans Infection in Wild Grasscutters (Thryonomys swinderianus), C ôte d'Ivoire.

In this study, we detected M. ulcerans-specific sequences in rectal contents and spleens collected in wild grasscutters hunted in Buruli ulcer-endemic area in Côte d'Ivoire, but not in farmed negative control animals and in domesticated animals, namely, pigs, goats, cattle, and dogs, living in close contact with the local population. Some grasscutters exhibited the same sequence pattern in the feces and spleen. These observations confirm the asymptomatic gut carriage of M. ulcreans in this mammal species. Moreover, these observations suggest the dissemination of M. ulcerans from the gut to the spleen in grasscutters. These observations suggest that, in some mammals, M. ulcerans is not only an inoculated pathogen but also a translocating invasive pathogen. PMID: 31333157 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene - Category: Tropical Medicine Authors: Tags: Am J Trop Med Hyg Source Type: research