Ge. Pfyffer et al., Mycobacterium canettii, the smooth variant of M-tuberculosis, isolated from a Swiss patient exposed in Africa, EM INFECT D, 4(4), 1998, pp. 631-634
An exceptionally smooth and glossy morphotype of Mycobacterium tuberculosis
complex was isolated from a 56-year-old Swiss patient with mesenteric tube
rculosis. Direct 16S rRNA sequence analysis of the hypervariable signature
gene regions revealed a 100% homology to the specific M. tuberculosis compl
ex sequence. Spoligotyping and restriction fragment length polymorphism ana
lyses using the insertion sequences IS6110 and IS1081 and the polymorphic G
C-rich sequence as additional genetic markers identified the isolate as the
novel taxon M. canettii. Like a Somali child with a similar case, this pat
ient probably contracted the infection in Africa, which raises questions ab
out the geographic distribution of M. canettii.