TYPES OF TUBERCLE BACILLI IN HUMAN TUBERCULOSIS

1932 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 606-616
Author(s):  
R. M. Price
Keyword(s):  
Bovine Tuberculosis ◽  
Tubercle Bacillus ◽  
Adult Group ◽  
Human Type ◽  
Group 6 ◽  
Bovine Type

Four hundred and thirty-six cases of clinical tuberculosis were investigated with a view to ascertaining the types of the infecting organism. In this series of cases, 268 were children under 14 years of age, and 168 adults, 15 years and over. Both medical and surgical cases were studied. In the juvenile group, 230 patients proved to be infected with the human type, and 38, or 14.1%, with the bovine type of the tubercle bacillus. In the adult group 6, or 3.5%, proved to be infected with the bovine type, the remaining 162 cases with the human type of the tubercle bacillus. Bovine tuberculosis in man is milk-borne and preventable.

scholarly journals Non-pulmonary tuberculosis in England and in Wales. Account of a group investigation undertaken during the years 1943 to 1954

1949 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 337-359 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Pulmonary Tuberculosis ◽  
Relative Frequency ◽  
Tubercle Bacillus ◽  
Human Type ◽  
Laboratory Workers ◽  
Bovine Type

1. The present inquiry was designed to provide information on the relative frequency of infection in non-pulmonary tuberculosis with the human and bovine type of tubercle bacillus throughout the whole of England. A total of 149 pathologists at 120 collecting centres and 32 bacteriologists at 27 typing centres took part in the scheme. Two questionnaires relating to each patient were used, one to be filled in by the laboratory workers and one by the Tuberculosis Officer or other responsible official.1. Tubercle bacilli were isolated and typed from 112 patients in Wales. of these strains, 19 or 17·0 % belonged to the bovine and 93 or 83 % to the human type (Table 16).

scholarly journals Human pulmonary tuberculosis of bovine origin in Great Britain

1944 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 229-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Stanley Griffith ◽  
W. T. Munro
Keyword(s):  
Great Britain ◽  
Pulmonary Tuberculosis ◽  
Human Infection ◽  
The Other ◽  
Orkney Islands ◽  
Human Type ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
Anatomical Evidence ◽  
Bovine Type

1. This report summarizes the results of investigating 6963 cases of pulmonary tuberculosis in Great Britain.2. The tubercle bacilli in the sputum of each case were obtained in culture and their types determined.In Scotland out of 2769 cases 2609 yielded strains of human type (2564 eugonic and 45 dysgonic) and 160 (5·8 %) yielded strains of bovine type.In England tubercle bacilli of the human type were demonstrated in 3592 cases and of the bovine type in seventy-nine cases. Dysgonic human strains were found in seven cases, four of which occurred in the only series of English cases, namely 680, which were systematically examined for strains of this variety; dysgonic human strains were therefore proportionately less frequent in England than in Scotland. Of the seventy-nine bovine cases fifty-four occurred among 3422 unselected cases and twenty-five among a series of selected cases.In Wales 203 cases were examined and two were found to be bovine infections.In Eire no bovine infections were found in a series of 320 cases.3. The total number of cases of pulmonary tuberculosis shown to be expectorating bacilli of the bovine type of the sputum was 241, but twenty-five of them, occurring as they did among selected cases, are not used in the following percentages.The proportional frequencies of bovine infections were higher in all regions of Scotland than in England, the percentage being highest in the Orkney Islands (25·8%). The rural districts of the mainland of north-east Scotland follow with 9·1% and then those of the rest of Scotland with 5·2%. The City of Aberdeen gave 4·4% of bovine infections, but many of these had been infected in the country. In England the highest percentages were recorded in the north and middle regions, namely 2·0%, the southern part yielding only 0·6%.4. The strains from 232 of the 241 cases were fully virulent and from nine they showed varying degrees of attenuation.5. In six cases the bovine bacilli were associated with tubercle bacilli of another type, five times with eugonic human strains and once with a strain which could not be cultivated.6. The anatomical evidence (previous cervical and abdominal glandular and bone and joint tuberculosis) in about a third of the cases in Scotland and in a quarter of those in England was strongly in favour of the digestive tract as the channel of entry of the bacilli.7. Autopsies have been made on fourteen cases. In one case the lungs only were examined. In nine autopsies the anatomical evidence indicated the alimentary canal as the route of infection. In four autopsies the anatomical evidence was inconclusive.8. A history of tuberculosis was obtained in seven families in each of which two cases of pulmonary tuberculosis occurred. But bacteriological investigations in each of two families showed human in one affected person and bovine tubercle bacilli in the other and therefore disproved human to human infection. All the ten patients in five families yielded cultures of bovine tubercle bacilli. We concluded from the evidence that in one family both cases were of alimentary origin. Human to human infection was presumptive in the remaining four families. No autopsies were made in the last cases.9. Twenty-five patients were associated in their employment with cattle. Autopsies were made on two of them but the anatomical evidence as to the channel of entry of the bacilli was inconclusive.10. Of the 241 persons, forty-eight were known to be married and had 120 children. Bovine strains were obtained from two children (two families). Bacteriological evidence disproved infection from the parents in one case but was in favour of it having taken place in the other.11. One probable instance of infection with bovine bacilli spreading from man to cattle is quoted.12. A case of tuberculosis of the lungs due to bovine tubercle bacilli is indistinguishable clinically, radiologically and by post-mortem examination from one due to human tubercle bacilli.

STUDIES IN THE VARIABILITY OF TUBERCLE BACILLI: I. A RAPID-GROWING BOVINE TYPE

1931 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 389-398 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guilford B. Reed ◽  
Christine E. Rice
Keyword(s):  
Related Species ◽  
Tubercle Bacillus ◽  
Solid Media ◽  
Fluid Media ◽  
Acid Fluid ◽  
Bovine Type

Variability studies have been carried out on a considerable series of cultures of tubercle bacilli and related species of acid-fast bacteria. The present paper deals with a rapid-growing strain of the bovine tubercle bacillus. The results are in conformity with claims recently made by Petroff that certain types of tubercle bacilli undergo dissociation.It is shown that this avirulent, rapid-growing strain consists of R types which appear to be stable in acid fluid media and more or less stable on solid media. Rapid transfers through strongly alkaline fluids or growth in large volumes of similar media result in appreciable dissociation into S types. The S types were unstable, particularly in acid fluid media, and readily reverted to the R form.

scholarly journals THE COLONY MORPHOLOGY OF TUBERCLE BACILLI

1936 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth C. Smithburn
Keyword(s):  
Acid Medium ◽  
Alkaline Medium ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Culture Medium ◽  
Colony Morphology ◽  
Human Type ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Ph Range ◽  
Type Strains ◽  
Bovine Type

The colony topography of tubercle bacilli is significantly affected by altering the pH of the culture medium on which the organisms are grown. Under the conditions of these experiments, avian tubercle bacilli produce two variants, rough and smooth. The former are most numerous on the most acid medium used (pH 6.0); the smooth colonies are obtained over a broad range of pH. Three colonial variants of bovine and human tubercle bacilli are described. Both mammalian types produce greater numbers of rough colonies at pH 6.0. The bovine type strains produce greatest numbers of smooth colonies in the pH range 6.4 to 6.8, and intermediate colonies on alkaline medium. The human type strains produce greatest numbers of smooth colonies at pH 6.4 and large numbers of intermediate colonies at pH 6.8 and pH 7.2. Included among the avian and bovine strains studied are organisms of widely varying pathogenic properties. Virulent and attenuated strains of a given type produce similar colonial variants under similar environmental conditions.

scholarly journals STUDIES IN ATYPICAL FORMS OF TUBERCLE BACILLI ISOLATED DIRECTLY FROM THE HUMAN TISSUES IN CASES OF PRIMARY CERVICAL ADENITIS

1909 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 403-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles W. Duval
Keyword(s):  
Miliary Tuberculosis ◽  
The Other ◽  
Homogeneous Layer ◽  
Type I ◽  
Tubercle Bacillus ◽  
Animal Body ◽  
Human Type ◽  
Cervical Adenitis ◽  
Bovine Strain ◽  
Reaction Curve

The four cultures which form the basis of this communication were recovered from peculiar cases of primary cervical adenitis in man, three of which terminated fatally of disseminated acute miliary tuberculosis in four to six weeks. A careful comparative study shows that Culture II corresponds closely with the "human" and Culture IV with the "bovine" type of tubercle bacilli; while Cultures I and III present variations from the standard types and are to be retarded as "intermediate" or "atypical" forms. Culture I is of unusual interest because of its remarkable variations. The clinical picture of the case, the rapid course of the infection, the enormous number of the bacilli in the tissue, their tendency to occur in "heaps" like the leprosy bacillus, the high degree of virulence alike for rabbits and guinea-pigs, the production of lesions in chickens, the case of cultivation and the prolonged viability under unfavorable conditions, all mark the organism as a decided atypical form of tubercle bacillus in man. The prolonged viability, the production of lesions in the chicken and the great profusion of bacillary growth in the tissues would indicate an avian type. Though for years the reaction curve was atypical it has since changed completely to the "avian" curve. In this connection it is of interest to note that L. Rabinowitsch (3) states that she has isolated avian tubercle bacilli from two cases of tuberculosis in man. Cultures II and III undoubtedly belong to the human type of the tubercle family though they were under cultivation and were repeatedly tested upon glycerine broth over a period of months before their identity was definitely established. Culture IV completely corresponds in growth and reaction in glycerine bouillon to the bovine strain; however, it manifests a low degree of virulence for rabbits which is exceptional for bovine cultures. The old belief that bovine bacilli are more slender and beaded in the tissues and are thicker and shorter in culture than the human type, I have not been able to confirm. The morphological characters of the different cultures here reported were so inconstant that no reliance could be placed on this feature as an aid in differentiation. Outside of the animal body it would seem that the differences in size and character of the individual bacilli depend largely on the kind and reaction of the medium, whilst in the animal body they are influenced by their situation and the resistance of the host. The nature of the growth of these tubercle cultures varies for the same culture even under apparently identical conditions. The character of the growth was never an indication of the type of the culture, It was common to obtain two distinct types of growth on the same flask of bouillon, i. e., a portion of the surface would be covered with a heavy and uniformly granular layer of closely packed wax-like colonies twice the size of an ordinary pin's head, while the other portion would be a dense homogeneous layer with the typical depressed blisters. The rapidity of growth also varied greatly for the same culture. Often in a series of twelve or more bouillon flasks which were prepared alike and inoculated with the same culture, some would cover the surface in eight days to two weeks, others would take four to six weeks, still others two to three months. It was thought in the beginning of the work that this variation might depend on the amount of oxygen within the flask or on the change in reaction in the bouillon, but further tests proved that neither of these influenced the rate of growth in any way. It would occur in loosely corked flasks as well as in those that were sealed, and in flasks where the reaction was neutral, acid or slightly alkaline. It would seem that these changes are by no means specific for any group of the tubercle bacilli but a property possessed by them all. The growth of the cultures on solid medium showed approximately the same variation as that from the surface of the glycerine bouillon. The wax-like colonies described by L. Rabinowitsch (3) as characteristic for avian tubercle bacilli were noted at times for all of the cultures. On the modified egg mixture the growth was always more rapid and profuse than on any other medium. I found this egg medium more certain than any other for the direct recovery of the tubercle bacillus from the tissues. Where it was desired to recover the culture from the animal tissues with certainty and celerity it had no equal. Occasionally in seven days after the inoculation of the tuberculous gland material the growth was sufficiently advanced to transplant to the bouillon flasks. The glycerine bouillon test serves admirably to distinguish between the human, bovine and avian types of tubercle bacilli. It is also of value in the determination of degrees of adaptation in man for bacilli of the lower host-species, and in the recognition of "intermediate" types. The test to be of differential value requires repeated application and careful control over a period of months. Some freshly isolated cultures may produce their specific reaction curve in glycerine bouillon within a few weeks. On the other hand the same culture may fail to give its characteristic reaction or any alteration in the glycerine bouillon for several months though the growth has been luxuriant and complete. The rise in acidity that occurs in glycerine bouillon for the human type of tubercle bacilli is due to a specific action on the glycerine of the products of disintegration of bacilli (autolysis); with the bovine and avian types the products of bacillary disintegration have no action on the glycerine. The fall in acidity which occurs for all three types of the tubercle bacillus is due to the products of metabolic activity.

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