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)

Last scientific publications:

Jimenez-Martin D., Munoz-Fernandez L., Agullo-Ros I., Jimenez-Pizarro N., Cano-Terriza D., Garcia-Bocanegra I., Romero B., Caballero-Gomez J., Gonzalvez M., Rejon S., Martinez R. and Risalde MA.. Evaluation of techniques for post-mortem diagnosis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex infection in goats. Veterinary Microbiology, 304:110485. 2025. (A)
Lorente-Leal V., Pozo P., Bezos J., Collado S., Vicente J., Stuber T., Alvarez J., de Juan L. and Romero B.. Revisiting Mycobacterium bovis SB0121 genetic diversity reflects the complexity behind bovine tuberculosis persistence in Spain. Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 239:106519. 2025. (A)
Agullo-Ros I., Vaz-Rodrigues R., Dominguez M., Roy A., Ortega J., Moreno I., Bezos J., Dominguez L., Fernandez de Mera IG. and Risalde MA.. Immunological mechanisms involved in the protection against development of pulmonary tuberculosis in naturally infected goats. Veterinary Microbiology, 300:110320. 2025. (A)
Franzoni G., Signorelli F., Mazzone P., Donniacuo A., De Matteis G., Grandoni F., Schiavo L., Zinellu S., Dei Giudici S., Bezos J., De Carlo E., Galiero G., Napolitano F. and Martucciello A .. Cytokines as potential biomarkers for the diagnosis of Mycobacterium bovis infection in Mediterranean buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis). Frontiers in veterinary science, 11:1512571. 2024. (A)
Lorente-Leal V., Gómez-Buendía A., Gutierrez A., de Juan L., Bezos J. and Romero B.. Shaken, not stirred: magnetic bead DNA extraction as a rapid and effective method for the scaling up of bovine tuberculosis diagnosis. BMC Veterinary Research, 20(1):568. 2024. (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:

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.
Bezos J., Romero B., de Juan L., Velasco-Reinaldos C., Ortega J., Ortiz P., Alonso-Moreno P. and Izquierdo-García JL.. Metabolómica basada en Resonancia Magnética Nuclear, ¿puede contribuir al diagnóstico de la tuberculosis animal?. Revista de la Organización Colegial Veterinaria, 1(2025):23, Consejo General de Colegios de la Profesión Veterinaria de España. 2025.
Skuce R., Allen A., Ford T., Romero B., O Brien D., Gormley E., McCormack J., Sawyer J., Bezos J., O Hagan M., Miller M., Coffey M., Gordon S. and Olea Popelka F.. DISCONTOOLS chapter on bovine tuberculosis. Discontools, Discontools. 2024.
Roy A., Velasco-Reinaldos C. and Bezos J.. Tuberculosis en ganado caprino: situación epidemiológica en España y avances en su diagnóstico. Ruminews, Agrinews. 2024.
Martucciello A ., Mazzone P., Napolitano F., Bezos J., Grandoni F., Boniotti MB., Cagiola M., Cappelli G., Di Vuolo G., Galiero G., Signorelli F. and De Carlo E.. Intradermal Tuberculin Test in Water Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis): Experimental use of Mycobacterial Antigens for the Diagnosis of Bovine Tuberculosis. Journal of Buffalo Science, 13:46-52, Lifescience Global Inc. 2024.