Sources of infection: Mycobacterium avium infections in pigs, humans and birds in Norway
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 - 20:29
in Biology & Nature
New research from Norway has shown that Mycobacterium avium does not infect pigs via birds, as previously believed. M. avium can be divided into several subspecies, and the research shows that birds are infected by one particular subspecies, whereas pigs and humans are infected by another. Closely related bacteria were isolated in pigs and humans, which would indicate that pigs and humans are vulnerable to infection from the same sources in their surroundings.