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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, May 1999, p. 1254-1259, Vol. 37, No. 5
0095-1137/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Prevalence of Mycobacterium avium in Slaughter Pigs in The Netherlands and Comparison of IS1245 Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism Patterns of Porcine and Human Isolates

Ruud E. Komijn,1,* Petra E. W. de Haas,2 Margriet M. E. Schneider,3 Tony Eger,4 Jan H. M. Nieuwenhuijs,5 Remco J. van den Hoek,2 Douwe Bakker,4 Fred G. van Zijderveld,4 and Dick van Soolingen2

National Inspection Service for Livestock and Meat, 2270 JA Voorburg,1 Mycobacteria Department, National Institute of Public Health and the Environment, 3720 BA Bilthoven,2 Department of Internal Medicine, Subdivision of Infectious Diseases and AIDS, University Hospital Utrecht, 3584 CX Utrecht,3 Department of Bacteriology, Institute for Animal Science and Health, 8200 AB Lelystad,4 and Veterinary Health Inspectorate, 2280 MK Rijswijk,5 The Netherlands

Received 11 May 1998/Returned for modification 9 July 1998/Accepted 25 January 1999

A significant increase in the incidence of caseous lesions in the lymph nodes of slaughter pigs prompted a large-scale investigation in five slaughterhouses in The Netherlands. In total, 158,763 pigs from 2,899 groups underwent gross examination. At least one pig with caseous lesions in the submaxillary and/or mesenteric lymph nodes was observed in each of 154 of the 2,899 groups examined (5%). In total, 856 pigs (0.5%) were affected. As many as five pigs in each of 141 of the 154 positive groups (91.5%) had lymph node lesions. Greater numbers of pigs with affected lymph nodes were found in 13 groups (8.5%). Four pigs had lesions in the kidneys, liver, or spleen. Acid-fast bacteria were detected by microscopic examination of 121 of 292 Ziehl-Neelsen-stained smears of caseous lesions (41%). In a follow-up study, Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) bacteria were isolated from 219 of 402 affected lymph nodes (54.2%). Ninety-one of the isolated strains were analyzed by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) typing with insertion sequence IS1245 as a probe. All but 1 of these 91 strains contained IS1245 DNA, indicating that pigs in The Netherlands carried almost exclusively M. avium bacteria and no other bacteria of MAC. Only one pig isolate exhibited the bird-type RFLP pattern. MAC isolates from 191 human patients in The Netherlands in 1996 were also typed by RFLP analysis. Computer-assisted analysis showed that the RFLP patterns of 61% of the human isolates and 59% of the porcine isolates were at least 75% similar to the RFLP patterns of the other group of strains. This indicates that pigs may be an important vehicle for M. avium infections in humans or that pigs and humans share common sources of infection.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: National Inspection Service for Livestock and Meat, P.O. Box 3000, 2270 JA Voorburg, The Netherlands. Phone: 31-70-3578806. Fax: 31-70-3578806. E-mail: r.e.komijn{at}rvv.agro.nl.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, May 1999, p. 1254-1259, Vol. 37, No. 5
0095-1137/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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