title: Why doesn't bovine tuberculosis transmit between humans?
abstract: Tuberculosis caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis is an important bacterial pathogen of man. This human-adapted pathogen was ancestral to a lineage of animal-adapted strains which cause similar disease in many different mammals but are unable to transmit between humans. How did the animal-adapted strains lose the ability to transmit between humans?
authors.affiliation: Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA), Department of Bacteriology, Woodham Lane, New Haw, Addlestone, Surrey KT15 3NB, UK.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Berg
authors.affiliation: Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA), Department of Bacteriology, Woodham Lane, New Haw, Addlestone, Surrey KT15 3NB, UK. Electronic address: Noel.Smith@AHVLA.gsi.gov.uk.
authors.forename: Noel H
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000502:physiology*; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000382:microbiology / Q000635:transmission*; D014380:Tuberculosis, Bovine / Q000382:microbiology*