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M. Tuberculosis

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M. Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known as consumption, is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). TB is the leading cause of death in the world among reported deaths caused by a bacterial infectious disease. The disease affects 1.8 billion people per year, which is equal to one-third of the entire world population (Todar). Pulmonary tuberculosis accounts for the majority of the TB cases in the United States (Todar). Bovine tuberculosis is another infectious form of TB caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium bovis (Tortora, Funke, and Case 690). M. bovis is the etiologic agent of TB in cows and rarely in humans. Both cows and humans can serve as reservoirs. Humans can also be infected with M. bovis by the consumption of unpasteurized milk. This route of transmission can lead to the development of extrapulmonary TB, exemplified in history by bone infections that led to hunched backs (Todar). M. bovis accounts for only 1% of TB cases in humans in the United States. Another bacterium associated with TB that forms in patients with the late stages of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is Mycobacterium avium-intrecellulare (Tortora, Funke, and Case 690).
According to Todar, M. tuberculosis is a fairly large nonmotile rod-shaped bacterium distantly related to the Actinomycetes. The rods are 2-4 micrometers in length and 0.2-0.5 um in width. Many non-pathogenic mycobacteria are components of the normal flora of humans, found most often in dry and oily locations. M. tuberculosis is an obligate aerobe. For this reason, in the classic case of tuberculosis, MTB complexes are always found in the well-aerated upper lobes of the lungs. The bacterium is a facultative intracellular parasite, usually of macrophages, and has a slow generation time, 15-20 hours, and a physiological characteristic that may contribute to its virulence. Todar also states that the cell wall structure of M. tuberculosis deserves special



Cited: Center for TB Research Laboratory. Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Web. 28 Nov. 2012. . Gerard J. Tortora, Berdell R. Funke, Christine L. Case. Microbiolgy an Introduction. Glenview: Pearson Education, Inc. , 2010. Kenneth Todar, PhD. Todar 's Online Textbook of Bacteriology. 20 Oct. 2011. 27 Nov. 2012 . Mycobacteria. National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), 29 Nov. 2011. Web. 28 Nov. 2012 . . New TB Vaccine Approach Shows Promise in Mice. National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, 6 Sept. 2011. Web. 28 Nov. 2012 . < http://www.niaid.nih.gov/ news/newsreleases/2011/Pages/TBrecombinantVax.aspx>. Liem Nguyen. Targeting Antibiotic Resistance Mechanisms in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. 22 Nov. 2012. Web. 26 Nov. 2012 . Reema Bansal, Arman Sharma, Amod Gupta. Introcular Tuberculosis. 19 Nov. 2012. Web. 26 Nov. 2012 . Tory Brown. Rapid TB Test Could Improve Treatment. 26 Nov. 2012. Web. 28 Nov. 2012 .

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