Whole Genome Sequence Analysis of Mycobacterium bovis Cattle Isolates, Algeria.

Djamel Yala,Michel Drancourt,Jamal Saad,Naima Sahraoui,Abdellatif Niar,Fatah Tazerart

doi:10.3390/pathogens10070802

Abstract

Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis), a Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex species responsible for tuberculosis in cattle and zoonotic tuberculosis in humans, is present in Algeria. In Algeria however, the M. bovis population structure is unknown, limiting understanding of the sources and transmission of bovine tuberculosis. In this study, we identified the whole genome sequence (WGS) of 13 M. bovis strains isolated from animals exhibiting lesions compatible with tuberculosis, which were slaughtered and inspected in five slaughterhouses in Algeria. We found that six isolates were grouped together with reference clinical strains of M. bovis genotype-Unknown2. One isolate was related to M. bovis genotype-Unknown7, one isolate was related to M. bovis genotype-Unknown4, three isolates belonged to M. bovis genotype-Europe 2 and there was one new clone for two M. bovis isolates. Two isolates from Blida exhibited no pairwise differences in single nucleotide polymorphisms. None of these 13 isolates were closely related to four zoonotic M. bovis isolates previously characterized in Algeria. In Algeria, the epidemiology of bovine tuberculosis in cattle is partly driven by cross border movements of animals and animal products.

Highlights

Bovine tuberculosis is a chronic, deadly infection most often caused by Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis) and Mycobacterium caprae (M. caprae), two species belonging to the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex [1,2]
Bovine tuberculosis has an impact upon the international trade of animals and animal products [6,7], and bovine tuberculosis must be notified to the World Organization for Animal Health, as mentioned in its Terrestrial Animal Health
Most slaughtered animals were of average weight

Summary

Introduction

Bovine tuberculosis is a chronic, deadly infection most often caused by Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis) and Mycobacterium caprae (M. caprae), two species belonging to the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex [1,2]. M. bovis most often infects cattle and causes tuberculosis in other animal species and is a re-emerging cause of zoonotic tuberculosis in humans [3,4]. This disease poses a major threat to public health and creates socioeconomic problems, including loss of meat due to seizures in slaughterhouses and lower milk yields [5,6].

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