Genomic Polymorphism Associated with the Emergence of Virulent Isolates of Mycobacterium bovis in the Nile Delta

In this report, we examined the dynamic of M. bovis transmission among dairy cattle in the Nile Delta of Egypt. Animals belong to 27 herds from 7 governorates were tested with Single intradermal comparative tuberculin skin test, as a preliminary screen for the presence of bovine tuberculosis infection. Positive reactors were slaughtered to determine type of lesion and attempt to isolate M. bovis. After culturing, 11 M. bovis isolates were selected from various geographic locations for Whole genome sequencing. Surprisingly, out of the 11 sequenced isolates 2 were of BCG type and the rest were related to the virulent M. bovis clade of the Brazilian origin