The Complutense University of Madrid launches today the renewed website Mbovis.org, which houses the international database of animal mycobacterial spoligotype.

The Mycobacteria Unit of VISAVET takes over the administration of the database from Dr. Noel Smith of the University of Sussex that was currently supported by the Animal and Plant Health Agency and the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs of the Government of the United Kingdom.

The database provides authoritative name of spoligotyping, molecular characterization technique used for the analysis of mycobacteria within the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. Mbovis.org includes strains of M. bovis, main responsible for bovine tuberculosis and zoonotic mycobacteria as well as other species of mycobacteria such as M. africanum, M. microti, M. pinnipedii or M. caprae.

The new website development was cofinanced by the European Commission through the European Reference Laboratory for bovine tuberculosis.

More information: www.mbovis.org