ABSTRACT
Objective/background: guidelines for the manipulation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis [MTB] cultures require a Biosafety Level 3 [BSL-3] infrastructure and accompanying code of conduct. In this study, we aimed to validate and apply detection methods for viable mycobacteria from surfaces in a BSL-3 MTB laboratory
Methods: we evaluated phenotypic [Replicate Organism Detection and Counting [RODAC] plates] and molecular [propidium monoazide [PMA]-based polymerase chain reaction [PCR]] approaches for the detection of viable mycobacteria, as well as the effect of 70% ethanol applied for 5 min for disinfection against mycobacteria. For validation of the method, recovery of serial dilutions of Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guerin from glass slides was measured. Subsequently, we stamped surfaces in and around the biosafety cabinet [BSC] after different technicians had manipulated high bacterial load suspensions for routine drug-susceptibility testing in a Class II BSC
Results: RODAC stamping could detect as few as three bacteria on slides stamped either 5 min or 60 min after inoculation. PMA-based PCR, tested in parallel, did not pass validation. Mycobacteria were still detected after 5-min disinfection with ethanol 70%. In the BSL-3, from 201 RODAC-stamped surfaces, MTB was detected in four: three inside a BSC- on a tube cap and on an operator's gloves-and one outside, on an operator's gown
Conclusion: RODAC plates detect mycobacteria at low numbers of microorganisms. In addition, this method allowed us to show that 70% ethanol does not reliably kill mycobacteria when applied for 5 min to a dried surface, and that MTB bacilli may arrive outside a Class II BSC during routine practice, although the route could not be documented
ABSTRACT
<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Currently, migration has become one of the risk factors of high burden of tuberculosis in China. This study was to explore the influence of mass migration on the dynamics of Mycobacterium (M.) tuberculosis in Beijing, the capital and an urban area of China.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Three hundred and thirty-six M. tuberculosis strains from the Changping district, where the problem of urban migrants was more pronounced than in other Beijing regions, were genotyped by Spoligotyping, large sequence polymorphisms (LSPs 105 and 181), and variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) typing. Based on the genotype data, the phylogeny of the isolates was studied.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>In Changping district, the proportion of Beijing lineage M. tuberculosis isolates amounted to 89.0% (299/336), among which 86.6 % (252) belonged to the modern lineage. The frequency of modern Beijing lineage strains is so high (around 75% (252/336)) that associated risk factors affecting the tuberculosis epidemic cannot be determined. The time to the most recent common ancestor (TMRCA) of the Beijing lineage strains was estimated to be 5073 (95% CI: 4000-6200) years. There was no significant difference in the genetic variation of Beijing isolates from urban migrants and local residents.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The clone of modern Beijing lineage M. tuberculosis, which is dominant in the Beijing area, most likely started to expand with the five thousand-year-old Chinese civilization. In the future, with the urbanization in the whole of China, modern Beijing lineage M. tuberculosis may gain the larger geographical spread.</p>