RESUMEN
Eurasian red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris) in the British Isles are the most recently discovered animal reservoir for the leprosy bacteria Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium lepromatosis. Initial data suggest that prevalence of leprosy infection is variable and often low in different squirrel populations. Nothing is known about the presence of leprosy bacilli in other wild squirrel species despite two others (Siberian chipmunk [Tamias sibiricus], and Thirteen-lined ground squirrel [Ictidomys tridecemlineatus]) having been reported to be susceptible to experimental infection with M. leprae. Rats, a food-source in some countries where human leprosy occurs, have been suggested as potential reservoirs for leprosy bacilli, but no evidence supporting this hypothesis is currently available. We screened 301 squirrel samples covering four species [96 Eurasian red squirrels, 67 Eastern gray squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis), 35 Siberian chipmunks, and 103 Pallas's squirrels (Callosciurus erythraeus)] from Europe and 72 Mexican white-throated woodrats (Neotoma albigula) for the presence of M. leprae and M. lepromatosis using validated PCR protocols. No DNA from leprosy bacilli was detected in any of the samples tested. Given our sample-size, the pathogen should have been detected if the prevalence and/or bacillary load in the populations investigated were similar to those found for British red squirrels.
RESUMEN
An 86-year-old female patient from northeast Mexico presented with diffuse lepromatous leprosy (DLL). Sequence analysis of four genes (rrs, rpoB, sigA, and hsp65) from the skin biopsy specimen identified "Mycobacterium lepromatosis." This is the first independent confirmation of a case of DLL due to M. lepromatosis.
Asunto(s)
Lepra Lepromatosa/diagnóstico , Lepra Lepromatosa/microbiología , Mycobacterium/aislamiento & purificación , Anciano de 80 o más Años , Proteínas Bacterianas/genética , ADN Bacteriano/química , ADN Bacteriano/genética , Femenino , Histocitoquímica , Humanos , Lepra Lepromatosa/patología , México , Microscopía , Mycobacterium/clasificación , Mycobacterium/genética , Análisis de Secuencia de ADN , Piel/patologíaRESUMEN
The in vitro activities of ACH-702 and other antimicrobials against 30 Nocardia brasiliensis isolates were tested. The MIC(50) (MIC for 50% of the strains tested) and MIC(90) values of ACH-702 were 0.125 and 0.5 microg/ml. The same values for econazole were 2 and 4 microg/ml. The MIC(50) and MIC(90) values of imipenem and meropenem were 64 and >64 microg/ml and 2 and 8 microg/ml, respectively; the addition of clavulanic acid to the carbapenems had no effect.