Isolation of cultivable mycobacteria from feces and lungs of armadillos infected with Mycobacterium leprae.
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.
Dhople
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AM
Department of Biological Sciences, Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne 32901-6988.
Storrs
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EE
Lamoureux
L C
LC
D000818:Animals; D001135:Armadillos / Q000382:microbiology*; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology*; D005431:Florida; D007918:Leprosy / Q000382:microbiology*; D008168:Lung / Q000382:microbiology*; D009161:Mycobacterium / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D009162:Mycobacterium avium / Q000302:isolation & purification; D009166:Mycobacterium leprae / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D009170:Nontuberculous Mycobacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification