The Prevalence of Mycobacterium Bovis in Patients with Pulmonary Tuberculosis in the Central Province, Iran

Bovine tuberculosis، from the point of view of public health، is important in human societies. In this study، the prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis caused by Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis) in the central province، Iran، was reviewed. In this cross-sectional study، sputum cultures were prepared from all smear-positive patients during 18 months. A culture medium containing pyruvate، as well as، chemical and molecular tests for the detection of M. bovis was used. Data analysis was performed using SPSS16 software. During study، two strains of M. bovis were isolated. The molecular pattern of M. Bovis of the first patient by variable-number tandem repeat (VNTR) and spoligotyping methods was similar with most of M. bovis circulating in the population of cattle in Iran. But in the second case، despite being like a rare detected strain in the VNTR method، a different spoligotyping pattern was found. Eventually، it became clear that one of the isolates had not genotype similarity with the previously reported patterns. The curriculum of bovine tuberculosis combatting consists of proper planning in control and eradication، mainly on the basis of repeated tuberculin testing، removing infected animals from the herd and slaughter them، pasteurization of milk، and human vaccination with Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine.