Molecular epidemiology of disease due to Mycobacterium bovis in humans in the United Kingdom.

Mycobacterium bovis is the causative agent of bovine tuberculosis, with a wide host range. Fifty human M. bovis isolates were typed using spoligotyping and variable number tandem repeats (VNTR). Fifteen of these spoligotypes have not yet been recorded in cattle. The predominant spoligotype in humans and cattle was subdivided by VNTR.