What is it about?
Generally, the hallmark lesion of mycobacteriosis is granulomatous inflammation, but non-granulomatous necrotic lesions caused by Mycobacterium marinum, which mimics ranavirus infection, in Hong Kong warty newts were unveiled in the present study.
Featured Image
Photo by Milo McDowell on Unsplash
Why is it important?
Such non-granulomatous necrotic lesions caused by mycobacteria have not been reported in field cases. Also, we performed PCR targeting mycolactone-related genes and the genes encoding highly antigenic proteins to further investigate the possible mechanism of non-granulomatous necrotic lesion caused by M. marinum in these newts. Furthermore, mycolactone-producing M. marinum has been found only in the regions around western Asia (Israel, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Red Sea), and has never been reported in other regions. To our knowledge, this is the first study to report the mycolactone-producing M. marinum infection in East Asia, and this information indicates that MPM may be undergoing trans-boundary transmission by an undetermined pathway.
Perspectives
M. marinum infection commonly causes ulcerative and nodular skin le sions, but can also cause more aggressive diseases, such as septic arthritis and osteomyelitis, especially in cases of delayed treatment or an immunocompromised condition. Therefore, amphibian mycobacteriosis should always be assessed with differential diagnosis when non-granulomatous necrotic lesions in multiple or gans are observed.
Dr. Wen-Ta Li
Fishhead Labs LLC
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Mycolactone-producing Mycobacterium marinum infection in captive Hong Kong warty newts and pathological evidence of impaired host immune function, Diseases of Aquatic Organisms, March 2017, Inter-Research Science Center,
DOI: 10.3354/dao03092.
You can read the full text:
Resources
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
