title: Methods used to investigate a possible environmental source of Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare-scrofulaceum (MAIS) infection in farmed deer.
abstract: Currently used methods for the culture of mycobacteria from contaminated material were found to be unsatisfactory in an investigation of a possible environmental source of Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare-scrofulaceum (MAIS) infection in a New Zealand deer farm. Different combinations of established procedures were investigated using soil spiked with a laboratory strain of M. avium. The most successful combination involved mixing the soil in nutrient broth (pH 8.0) containing Tween 80, incubating at 37 degrees C for 1 h to germinate sporing contaminants, treatment for 24 h with 1% cetylpyridinium chloride, followed by washing and culture on Lowenstein-Jensen slopes and incubation at 37 degrees C and 42 degrees C in approximately 5% CO2 atmosphere. This procedure allowed good recovery of M. avium while successfully inhibiting saprophytic mycobacteria and other soil organisms, and was chosen to process the deer farm samples. No mycobacteria resembling the deer strains were found in these samples.
authors.affiliation: Cawthron Institute, Nelson, New Zealand.
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Prosser
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003670:Deer; D009162:Mycobacterium avium / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012820:Silage; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D014871:Water Microbiology