ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. One Health
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1565066
This article is part of the Research TopicOne Health Approach to Mycobacterial Infections in Veterinary ScienceView all 10 articles
Non-tuberculous mycobacteria and other acid fast bacilli pathogens identification by qPCR and MALDI-ToF MS in tuberculosis-like lesions of slaughtered cattle from Ecuador
Provisionally accepted
Solon Alberto Orlando1Leila Estefania Vera Loor2Joselyn Calderon1Henry Parra Vera3
Miguel Angel Garcia Bereguiain4*- 1National Institute of Public Health and Research (Ecuador), Quito, Pichincha, Ecuador
- 2Escuela Superior Politécnica Agropecuaria de Manabí Manuel Félix López, Calceta, Ecuador
- 3Centro de Investigacion Microbiologica., Guayaquil, Guayas, Ecuador
- 4University of the Americas, Quito, Ecuador
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Mycobacterial infections are caused by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) but also by non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM). While the importance of NTM in opportunistic infections in humans has been gaining attention, surveillance and control programs for cattle health and production remain predominantly focused on bovine tuberculosis (BTB) that it is caused exclusively by MTBC. In this study, we conducted a comprehensive inspection of 5,803 cattle carcasses destined for human consumption across 22 abattoirs in five provinces of Ecuador's coastal region, searching for lesions visually compatible with BTB (BTB-like lesions). A high prevalence of 13.4% (CI 95%: 12.8-14.6) for BTB-like lesions and 3.1% (CI 95%: 2.6-3.5) for acid-fast bacilli (AFB) presence in lesions was observed. From these lesions, we isolated 48 AFB cultures, 44 of which tested positive for NTM. Strikingly, MTBC was not found in any BTB-like lesion by qPCR. Furthermore, Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-ToF MS) identified six NTM species: M. neoaureum, M. fortuitum, M. novocastrense, M. asiaticum, M. duvalii, and M. mucogenicum. Additionally, other AFB opportunistic pathogenic species were identified, including Tsukamurella paurometabola, Gordonia hongkongensis, and Nocardia spp. Considering the potential misdiagnosis of NTM and other AFB species, BTB surveillance and control programs for MTBC should be revised to consider other opportunistic infections with similar clinical output to BTB.
Keywords: bovine tuberculosis, Cattle, abbatoirs, MTBC, Non-tuberculous mycobacteria, Nocardia, Gordonia, Tsukamurella
Received: 22 Jan 2025; Accepted: 24 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Orlando, Vera Loor, Calderon, Parra Vera and Garcia Bereguiain. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Miguel Angel Garcia Bereguiain, University of the Americas, Quito, Ecuador
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