Mycobacterium bovis Infection in a Farmed Elk in Korea

A case of tuberculosis is reported in an eight-year-old, male, elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni). The elk showed severe coughing, respiratory distress, abdominal breathing, anorexia, and severe progressive emaciation in the elk farm. At necropsy, the elk appeared in poor body condition. Mild enlargement of retropharyngeal and submandibular lymph node was observed in the head. Diffuse fibrinous pleuritis and purple red lobar pneumonia were found in the thorax. Well demarcated numerous dark yellow discrete or confluent nodules from 0.3 to 2 cm in diameter were scattered in the whole lung. Bronchial and mediastinal lymph nodes were also enlarged. Histopathologically, lungs had typical classical tuberculous granulomas, multiple abscesses, and numerous macrophages and Langhans giant cells infiltration in alveolar lumen. In the lymph nodes, there were small clusters of necrosis and infiltration of numerous macrophages, epithelioid cells, and Langhans giant cells. With the acid-fast staining, numerous mycobacteria were revealed in the lung and lymph nodes. According to this study, there are differences of the histopathologic lesions and the numbers of acid-fast bacilli in the lesions between this elk and cattle. Mycobacterium bovis was confirmed as a causative agent in this elk using bacterial isolation, biochemical characteristics, and PCR technique. The isolate was negative for niacin test, nitrate reductase, and pyrazinamidase. This is a first report for bovine tuberculosis of farmed elk in Asia.

A Case of Tuberculosis of the Cervix / 대한산부인과학회잡지

Tuberculosis of the uterine cervix is a rare disorder and the cervix is reported to be involved in 5-15 percent of the case of genital tuberculosis. It is discovered incidentally in most cases. The genital lesions are secondary to tuberculosis elsewhere, usually, the lungs. Primary cervical tuberculosis is very rare. The cytologic diagnosis of cervical tuberculosis is difficult. The histological diagnosis of genital tuberculosis presents no problems when the typical caseating necrosis and Langhans giant cell granulomas are present in tissue. And the presence of tubercle bacilli in biopsy specimens as well as in cultures of one specimen confirmed the diagnosis. We report a case of tuberculosis of the cervix confirmed by histologic examination with brief review.