Abstract
“Mycobacterium canettii,” an opportunistic human pathogen living in an unknown environmental reservoir, is the progenitor species from which Mycobacterium tuberculosis emerged. Since its discovery in 1969, most of the ≈70 known M. canettii strains were isolated in the Republic of Djibouti, frequently from expatriate children and adults. We show here, by whole-genome sequencing, that most strains collected from February 2010 through March 2013, and associated with 2 outbreaks of lymph node tuberculosis in children, belong to a unique epidemic clone within M. canettii. Evolution of this clone, which has been recovered regularly since 1983, may mimic the birth of M. tuberculosis. Thus, recognizing this organism and identifying its reservoir are clinically important.
Highlights
“Mycobacterium canettii,” an opportunistic human pathogen living in an unknown environmental reservoir, is the progenitor species from which Mycobacterium tuberculosis emerged
M. canettii was isolated from 21 patients, representing 8.7% of all cases: M. canettii was responsible for 4.4% of TB cases in Djiboutians (10 patients) and 55% of TB cases in non-Djiboutians (11 patients)
The prevalence of M. canettii in TB patients in the Republic of Djibouti is unique, with >8% of cases reported to Bouffard Hospital during 2010 through early 2013 caused by M. canettii
Summary
“Mycobacterium canettii,” an opportunistic human pathogen living in an unknown environmental reservoir, is the progenitor species from which Mycobacterium tuberculosis emerged. Since its discovery in 1969, most of the ≈70 known M. canettii strains were isolated in the Republic of Djibouti, frequently from expatriate children and adults. By whole-genome sequencing, that most strains collected from February 2010 through March 2013, and associated with 2 outbreaks of lymph node tuberculosis in children, belong to a unique epidemic clone within M. canettii. Evolution of this clone, which has been recovered regularly since 1983, may mimic the birth of M. tuberculosis. Since 2010, of 21 new strains of M. canettii in Djibouti, of which 7 were associated with 2 lymph node TB outbreaks in children. We take advantage of the clone A sequence data, which is, within M. canettii, closest to M. tuberculosis, to better describe the emergence of M. tuberculosis
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