VISAVET | Mycobacteria Unit

Contact

Mycobacteria Unit
VISAVET Health Surveillance Centre
Universidad Complutense
Av. Puerta de Hierro s/n. 28040 Madrid. Spain

e-mail:

Head office phone: (+34) 913 944 033

Laboratory phone: (+34) 913 943 975

Fax: (+34) 913 943 795

The Mycobacteria Unit (MYC) routinely conducts immunological, bacteriological, and molecular diagnosis of infections caused by mycobacteria, primarily tuberculosis. Additionally, it carries out field and experimental studies to evaluate diagnostic techniques and vaccines for the design of control and eradication strategies, as well as molecular epidemiology studies based on different techniques including sequencing. Therefore, the main research lines of the group involve the development, evaluation and fine-tuning of methodologies for in vivo and in vitro diagnosis of infections caused by mycobacteria, as well as the development of new technology for molecular characterization studies. MYC also collaborates with the Official Veterinary Services of Spain to design strategies that improve control and eradication programs for tuberculosis in domestic ruminants, as well as in the improvement of diagnosis and control in other domestic and wildlife species. Additionally, MYC participates in training courses and conferences on various aspects of tuberculosis aimed at veterinarians and livestock farmers. Thanks to the professional trajectory of this group, the VISAVET Centre was designated in 2008 as the European Union Reference Laboratory for bovine tuberculosis, under the auspices of the European Commission, providing technical support to all National Reference Laboratories (NRL) as well as the official veterinary services of the European Union. Furthermore, in 2023, it was also designated as the Reference Laboratory for mammalian tuberculosis by the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), expanding its technical and scientific work beyond the European context.

Research

Research lines:

Tuberculosis control (MYC)
Molecular characterizacion studies of the Mycobacterium avium complex (MYC)
Tuberculosis diagnosis (MYC)
Molecular epidemiology of tubeculosis (MYC)
Diagnosis of other mycobacteriosis (MYC)

Next scientific publications:

Alonso-Moreno P., Ortiz P., Ortega J., Velasco-Reinaldos C., Lopez A., Izquierdo-Garcia JL. and Bezos J.. Metabolomic signatures of tuberculosis and paratuberculosis in goats revealed by high-resolution and benchtop NMR spectroscopy. Veterinary Research. In Press (A)

Last scientific publications:

Gómez-Buendía A., Triguero-Ocana R., Pozo P., Munoz-Mendoza M., Alvarez-Fidalgo M., Mourelo J., Romero B. and Alvarez J.. Abattoir Surveillance: Identifying Risk Factors Associated with Bovine Tuberculosis Lesion Detection in a Low Prevalence Region. Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 246:106710 . 2026. (A)
Grant IR., Sevilla IA., Molina E., Romero B., Lorente-Leal V., Thibault-Poisson VC., Cechova M. and Kohler H.. Evaluation of the reproducibility and performance characteristics of the Phagomagnetic separation-qPCR assay for rapidly detecting viable Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis in bovine milk and feces. Frontiers in veterinary science, 12. 2025. (A)
Villar M., Rodriguez O., Vaz-Rodrigues R., Pardo-Reyes AE., Rafael M., Artigas-Jerónimo S ., de la Fuente G., Fernandez de Mera IG., Juste RA., Sevilla IA., Dominguez L., Gortazar C. and de la Fuente J.. Complement system activation in wild boar (Sus scrofa) following parenteral administration of heat-inactivated Mycobacterium bovis. Frontiers in veterinary science, 12:1702063. 2025. (A)
Giovanozzi S., Martucciello A ., Dominguez M., Moreno I., Boifava M., Schiavo L., Viscito A., Parisio G., Vitale N., Bezos J., De Carlo E. and Boniotti MB.. Evaluation of serological assays for intra vitam diagnosis of bovine tuberculosis in water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis). Frontiers in Microbiology, 16. 2025. (A)
Gómez-Buendía A., Yessembekova G., Kadyrov A., Mukhanbetkaliyev Y., Cervino-Luridiana E., Alvarez J., Perez AM. and Abdrakhmanov SK.. A time-space Bayesian regression model of rabies cases in the animal population of Kazakhstan (2013-2023). Frontiers in veterinary science, 12:1-9. 2025. (A)

See all scientific publications

Last PhD thesis:

Javier Ortega Martín. Study of factors affecting the diagnostic performance of cellular and humoral-based techniques for caprine tuberculosis. 2024.
Pilar Pozo Piñol. Use of Epidemiological Analytic Tools and Molecular Characterization Techniques to Inform Bovine Tuberculosis Eradication Programs. 2020. (Doctorado Internacional y Doctorado Industrial)
Álvaro Roy Cordero. Evaluation of new vaccines against tuberculosis in goats and advances in their immunological diagnosis. 2020. (Doctorado Internacional y Doctorado Industrial)
Jose Antonio Infantes Lorenzo. Immunoproteomic characterization of protein derivatives from Mycobacterium bovis, Mycobacterium avium (subspecies avium and paratuberculosis) and Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis. Application in diagnosis. 2018. (Doctorado Europeo)
Carmen Casal Comendador. Diagnosis of tuberculosis in ruminants and camelids: optimization of cell-based and humoral tests. 2016. (Premio Laboratorios Ovejero, Doctorado Europeo)

See all thesis

Outreach

Last outreach publications:

Ortega J., Velasco-Reinaldos C., Romero B., Alvarez J. and Bezos J.. Evaluación de dos antígenos experimentales (DST-F y P22) para el diagnóstico inmunológico de la tuberculosis en ganado bovino. Ruminews, Agrinews. 2025.
Bezos J.. Improving the diagnosis of tuberculosis in domestic ruminants through the use of new antigens and test platforms. International Coordination of Research on Infectious Animal Diseases (ICRAD) 2019- 2025. A European network initiative advancing animal health and welfare. Ed. 1. 2019-2025, DTU Aqua. 2025.
Velasco-Reinaldos C., Ortega J., Roy A., Moreno I., Dominguez M., Jones G., Gormley E., McGill K., Boniotti MB., Bakker D., Or E., Mazzone P., Martucciello A . and Bezos J.. Improving the diagnosis of tuberculosis in domestic ruminants through the use of new antigens and test platforms. The imdiTBap project. EAVLD Newsletter, 25:18-20, European Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians (EAVLD). 2025.
Velasco-Reinaldos C., Ortega J., Romero B., Alvarez J. and Bezos J.. Avances del proyecto internacional imditbap para mejorar el diagnóstico inmunológico de la tuberculosis caprina. Ruminews, Agrinews. 2025.
Velasco-Reinaldos C., Ortega J., Roy A., Moreno I., Dominguez M., Jones G., Gormley E., McGill K., Boniotti MB., Bakker D., Or E., Mazzone P., Martucciello A . and Bezos J.. imdiTBap. Improving the diagnosis of tuberculosis in domestic ruminants through the use of new antigens and test platforms. German Multidisciplinary Publishing Center, 1, GMPC Main Eidtorial Office. 2025.