title: Molecular characterization of Mycobacterium bovis strains isolated from cattle slaughtered at two abattoirs in Algeria.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Bovine Tuberculosis is prevalent in Algeria despite governmental attempts to control the disease. The objective of this study was to conduct, for the first time, molecular characterization of a population sample of Mycobacterium bovis strains isolated from slaughter cattle in Algeria. Between August and November 2007, 7250 animals were consecutively screened at the abattoirs of Algiers and Blida. In 260 animals, gross visible granulomatous lesions were detected and put into culture. Bacterial isolates were subsequently analysed by molecular methods.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Altogether, 101 bacterial strains from 100 animals were subjected to molecular characterization. M. bovis was isolated from 88 animals. Other bacteria isolated included one strain of M. caprae, four Rhodococcus equi strains, three Non-tuberculous Mycobacteria (NTM) and five strains of other bacterial species. The M. bovis strains isolated showed 22 different spoligotype patterns; four of them had not been previously reported. The majority of M. bovis strains (89%) showed spoligotype patterns that were previously observed in strains from European cattle. Variable Number of Tandem Repeat (VNTR) typing supported a link between M. bovis strains from Algeria and France. One spoligotype pattern has also been shown to be frequent in M. bovis strains from Mali although the VNTR pattern of the Algerian strains differed from the Malian strains.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  M. bovis infections account for a high amount of granulomatous lesions detected in Algerian slaughter cattle during standard meat inspection at Algiers and Blida abattoir. Molecular typing results suggested a link between Algerian and European strains of M. bovis.
authors.affiliation: Département Vétérinaire, Université Saad Dahlab, Blida, Algeria. sahraouinadz@yahoo.fr
authors.forename: Naima
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sahraoui
authors.forename: Borna
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.forename: Djamel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Guetarni
authors.forename: Fadéla
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Boulahbal
authors.forename: Djamel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yala
authors.forename: Rachid
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ouzrout
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Berg
authors.forename: Noel H
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Jakob
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zinsstag
mesh_terms: D000003:Abattoirs; D000462:Algeria; D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D009163:Mycobacterium bovis / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014380:Tuberculosis, Bovine / Q000382:microbiology*