Profesión Veterinaria publish this article

January 1^st, 2001

Vela AI., Simarro I., de Juan L., Aranaz A., Montero N., Mateos A., Suarez G., Dominguez L., de los Rios R., Martin R., Moreno S., Garcia A., Martin C., Navas E. and Gomez-Mampaso E.

This work describes a case of isolation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from a 5-year-old German shepherd who presented a clinical picture compatible with tuberculosis. The dog lived with a family in which a case of childhood tuberculosis had been reported. The epidemiological investigation revealed that this animal was previously the pet of another family in which there was a case of tuberculosis caused by M. tuberculosis. After the development and application of different clinical, microbiological and molecular techniques, the results suggest that the dog acted as one more component in the chain of disease transmission. This new case contributes to the rethinking of the role of pets in the transmission chain of human tuberculosis.

	Departamento de Sanidad Animal. Facultad de Veterinaria. Universidad Complutense (UCM). 111
	Servicio de Micobacterias (MYC). Servicio de Identificación y Caracterización Microbiana (ICM). Centro de Vigilancia Sanitaria Veterinaria (VISAVET). Universidad Complutense (UCM). 111