Detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex in lymph nodes of wild boar (Sus scrofa) by a target-amplified test system

Abstract

A detailed macroscopic and histological description is given of tuberculous-like lesions in mandibular lymph nodes obtained from wild boar (Sus scrofa) collected in Italy during the 1995/1996 hunting season, as well as a correlation with results obtained from a Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex target amplified test system. According to macroscopic appearance, lesions were largely represented by caseous-necrotic-calcified granulomata (n = 272/285; 95.4%), while histological investigations showed mainly necrotic-calcified (n = 82/218; 37.6%) and fibronecrotic-calcified (n = 81/218; 37.2%) lesions. When tested with a target rRNA amplification/hybridization technique to detect M. tuberculosis complex, 112 (43.6%) samples out of 275 tested gave positive results.