Disseminated Mycobacterium kansasii infection in a white-tailed deer and implications for public and livestock health. (January 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ford, Alexandra K.; Niedringhaus, Kevin D.; Anderson, A. Nikki; LaCour, James M.; Nemeth, Nicole M.
• Is Part Of: Journal of veterinary diagnostic investigation. Volume 32:Number 1(2020:Jan.)
• Page Start: 147
• Page End: 151
• Publication Date: 2020-01
• Subjects: acid-fast -- granuloma -- Mycobacterium kansasii -- non-tuberculosis mycobacteria -- pneumonia -- white-tailed deer; Veterinary medicine -- Diagnosis -- Periodicals; 636.0896075
• DOI: 10.1177/1040638719895475
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1040-6387

Abstract

We document a case of Mycobacterium kansasii, a rare, zoonotic bacterium, in a white-tailed deer (WTD; Odocoileus virginianus ) in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana. Grossly, the deer had fibrinous pleuropneumonia with yellow, mineralized nodules scattered throughout the lungs and extending to the pleura. The kidneys were enlarged and had numerous pale foci in the cortex. Microscopically, the pulmonary architecture was replaced by variably sized, multifocal-to-coalescing granulomas with peripheral histiocytes and fewer multinucleate giant cells, and necrotic centers with mineralization and hemorrhage. The latter rarely contained one to a few acid-fast, slender, 7-µm long bacteria, for which beaded morphology was sometimes evident. Similar acid-fast bacteria were also within histiocytes in the kidney. PCR assay of fresh lung sample and subsequent sequencing revealed a non-tuberculosis mycobacterium, M. kansasii . These lesions were similar to those that result from infection with M. bovis in WTD. Both M. bovis and M. kansasii are zoonotic. WTD are a reservoir of M. bovis, which is a major concern in regions in which WTD and cattle can come into close contact.