Aislamiento de Mycobacterium intracellulare a partir de un pulmón bovino comercializado en una carnicería de la zona oeste del conurbano bonaerense = Isolate of Mycobacterium intracellulare from a bovine lung marketed in a butcher shop from western of Greater Buenos Aires

Abstract

Se realizó un muestreo de 62 pulmones bovinos en una carnicería y un frigorífico de la zona oeste del conurbano bonaerense. De uno de ellos, adquirido en una carnicería, y sin lesiones visibles compatibles con tuberculosis, se obtuvo por cultivo en medio Stonebrink desarrollo de bacilos ácido alcohol resistentes. Por polymerase chain reaction restriction analysis y secuenciación del gen que codifica 16S ARN ribosomal se identificó Mycobacterium avium subsp. intracellulare. Esta especie pertenece al complejo Mycobacterium avium y es considerada una micobacteria oportunista ya que normalmente no produce signos clínicos, aunque ha sido aislada de mamíferos enfermos. Este hallazgo en un pulmón bovino nos alerta sobre el potencial riesgo de transmisión a animales que consumen este tipo de alimento crudo y a personas inmunosuprimidas que lo manipulan.

Sixty two bovine lungs were sampled in one butcher shop and one slaughterhouse from the western region of Greater Buenos Aires. In one of them, purchased in a butcher shop, which showed no lesions compatible with tuberculosis, we obtained an isolate of acid fast bacilli on Stonebrink medium. Mycobacterium avium subsp. intracellulare was identified using polymerase chain reaction restriction analysis and sequencing of the gene encoding 16S rRNA. This species belongs to the Mycobacterium avium complex and is regarded as opportunistic mycobacteria because it usually does not cause clinical signs, but it has been isolated from diseased mammals. This finding in a bovine lung alerts us about the potential risk of transition to animals that consume this type of food raw and to immunosuppressed people who manipulate it.