History of tuberculosis: Tuberculosis and art (Part IV)

Tuberkuloza je imala velik utjecaj na povijest čovječanstva pa tako i na umjetnost. Što bi umjetnički geniji iz svijeta književnosti, glazbe i slikarstva stvorili da nisu umrli vrlo mladi? U radu je prikazan utjecaj tuberkuloze na stvaranje umjetnika koji su bolovali od tuberkuloze. Tijekom romantizma pojavilo se mišljenje da tuberkuloza u oboljelih povećava kreativne sposobnosti. Među piscima koji su oboljeli od tuberkuloze bili su poznati njemački pisci: Wolfgang von Goethe, Friedrich Schiller i Georg Philipp Friedrich von Hardenberg. Tuberkulozan je bio i pisao o tubekulozi Lord Gordon Byron, a i Edgar Allan Poe je još kao dijete ostao bez roditelja oboljenih od tubekuloze, a i sam je umro od te bolesti. John Keats, engleski pjesnik, a i cijela njegova obitelj umrli su od tuberkuloze; od tuberkuloze je umro i ruski književnik Anton Pavlovič Čehov. Obitelj Brontë jedna je od najtragičnijih, ali isto tako i najtalentiranijih književnih obitelji. Svi su kao vrlo mladi umrli od tuberkuloze. Antun Branko Šimić, jedan od najvećih hrvatskih pjesnika, umro je od tuberkuloze u 27. godini života. Iako nije dugo živio, A. B. Šimić ostavio je iznimno bogati knjiženi opus. Mnogobrojna obitelj, otac i braća Ive Andrića književnika i dobitnika Nobelove nagrade za kniževnost umrli su od tuberkuloze, a i sam Ivo Andrić je dugo bolovao od te bolesti. U operama “La Traviata” Giuseppea Verdija i “La bohème” Giacoma Puccinija tematizirana je bolest toga vremena. tuberkuloza. Frederic Chopin, utjelovljenje je romantičarskog umjetnika, ne samo zbog pripadnosti stilskom razdoblju romantizma, već i zbog svog života ispunjenog događajima, osobnih i društvenih patnji. Umro je u 39. godini od tuberkuloze i uz velike je počasti pokopan na groblju Père Lachasie u Parizu, a njegovo je srce, potajno, prenijeto u Varšavu, gdje je uzidano u jedan stup crkve Svetoga Križa. Tuberkuloza je bila zastupljena i u likovnoj umjetnosti. Talijanski slikar Amadeo Modigliani, u početku svog umjetničkog rada želio je postati kipar, ali tjelesni napor prilikom klesanja, prašina i kašalj odvratili su ga od klesanja i vratili slikarstvu. Umro je od tuberkuloze u 36. godini života. Ferdinandu Hodleru, švicarskom slikaru, otac, majka, braća i sestre umrli su od tuberkuloze. Ovo teško iskustvo bolesti i smrti odrazilo se na njegovo slikarstvo. Edvard Munch, samouki norveški slikar bio je duboko pogođen smrću voljenih članova obitelji. Mračna raspoloženja tjeskobe i očaja ogledavaju se na njegovim platnima. Opisani su i mnogi hrvatski slikari oboljeli ili umrli od tuberkuloze: (Slava Raškaj umrla je u 29. godini života, Miroslav Kraljević u 28., Milan Steiner u 25., Tomislav Kolombar u 21. godina života). Usprkos njihovim kratkim životima, svaki je od njih ostvario izniman, cjelovit i znatan umjetnički opus.Tuberculosis has had an immeasurable impact on the history of mankind, including art. What would an artistic genius have brought into the world of books, music or painting had they not died very young? The influence of tuberculosis on artistic activity and artists suffering from it are presented. During the period of Romanticism, there was the myth that tuberculosis increased creative abilities among the afflicted. Writers suffering from tuberculosis included the renowned German writers Wolfgang von Goethe, Friedrich Schiller and Georg Philipp Friedrich von Hardenberg. Lord Gordon Byron wrote about tuberculosis, while Edgar Allan Poe lost his parents to tuberculosis as a child, and later himself died of it. The English poet John Keats perished from the disease, together with his entire family, as did Russian writer Anton Pavlovich Chekhov. The Brontë family is one of the most tragic but also the most talented literary families, with all its members dying of tuberculosis at a very young age. Antun Branko Simic, one of Croatia’s greatest poets, died of tuberculosis at the age of 27. Despite his short life, he left an extraordinary literary legacy. Ivo Andric, writer and Nobel Prize laureate for literature suffered from the disease for a long time, while his father and brothers died of it. The operas La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi and La Bohème by Giacomo Puccini were met with a great problem at the time, tuberculosis. Frederic Chopin is the incarnation of a Romantic artist, not only because he belongs to the stylistic period of Romanticism, but also because of his life marked with personal and social suffering. He died at the age of 39 from tuberculosis and was interred with great honours at the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris, while his heart was secretly transferred to Warsaw, where it was built into a column in the Church of the Holy Cross. Tuberculosis is widely represented in the fine arts. An example is Italian painter Amadeo Modigliani, who initially wanted to become a sculptor. However, the physical effort involved in stonemasonry, dust and cough eventually distracted him from sculpting and brought him back to painting. He died of tuberculosis at the age of 36. Ferdinand Hodler, a Swiss painter, lost his parents and all of his siblings to tuberculosis. This great experience of illness and death in his youth was reflected in his painting. Edvard Munch, a self-taught Norwegian painter, was deeply affected by the death of loved family members, reflected by the dark moods of anxiety and despair in his paintings. Many Croatian painters also suffered from the disease, and some died, such as Slava Raškaj, who died at the age of 29, then Miroslav Kraljevic, at the age of 28, Milan Steiner at the age of 25, or Tomislav Kolombar, at the age of 20. Despite their short life spans, each of these artists achieved an exceptional, complete and significant opus

History of tuberculosis - from tuberculin to antituberculotics (Part II)

Otkriće uzročnika tuberkuloze M. tuberculosis 1882. godine bilo je jedno od najvažnijih otkrića u povijesti medicine, osobito u bakteriologiji. Obzirom da uzročnika tuberkuloze nije bilo moguće liječiti, postojali su mnogi pokušaji da se tuberkuloznim bolesnicima pomogne. Njemački liječnik Hermann Brehmer izgradio je prvi sanatorij 1857. godine u Görbersdorfu u Njemačkoj za liječenje i oporavak tuberkuloznih bolesnika. Jedan od osnivača lječilišta za tuberkulozu u Hrvatskoj (Brestovac na Sljemenu) bio je dr. Milivoj Dežman. Godine 1888. talijanski liječnik Carlo Forlanini napravio je prvi umjetni pneumotoraks uzrokujući kolaps pluća i napunio pleuralne šupljine dušikom. Kirurški tretmani tuberkuloze razvijali su se i primjenjivali sve do 1940-tih godina. Znatan iskorak u dijagnosticiranju tuberkuloze bilo je otkriće rentgentskih zraka 1895. godine. Robert Koch je otkrio 1890. godine tuberkulin, koji se nije zadržao kao lijek, ali je postao dijagnostičko sredstvo. Velikom napretku u borbi protiv tuberkuloze doprinijeli su Albert Calmette i njegov suradnik Camille Guérin. Oni su uspjeli razviti BCG (Bacillus Calmette- Guérin) cjepivo protiv tuberkuloze koje je 1921. godine prvi put primijenjeno u bolnici u Parizu. Početkom 1943. godine Jörgen Eric Lehmann otkrio je paraminosalicilnu kiselinu (PAS), a 1944., biokemičar Selman Abraham Waksman i njegovi suradnici razvili su antibiotik streptomicin. Bili su to prvi lijekovi kojima se liječila tuberkuloza. Od sredine 1950-tih kombinaciji streptomicin i PAS dodan je i izoniazid, a kasnije su otkriveni i mnogi drugi lijekovi poput pirazinamida (1954.), a ethambutol i rifampicin uvedeni su u liječenje 1961. i 1963. pa je nastala nova era liječenja tuberkuloze, a mnogi su sanatoriji za tuberkulozu bili zatvoreni. Novi način liječenja tuberkuloze, zajedno s BCG-om, u zapadnom svijetu smanjio je umiranje od tuberkuloze za gotovo 90 %, a trajanje terapije skraćeno je s dvije godine na šest mjeseci. Povijest kontrole i liječenja tuberkuloze ušlo je u novo poglavlje.The discovery of the causative agent of tuberculosis Mycobacterium tuberculosis in 1882 was one of the most important events in medical history, especially bacteriology. Since the causes of tuberculosis were not treatable, there were various attempts to help tuberculosis patients. The German physician Hermann Brehmer built the first sanatorium in Görbersdorf, Germany in 1857 to treat tuberculosis patients. One of the founders of the tuberculosis sanatorium in Croatia (Brestovac on Mt. Sljeme) was Dr. Milivoj Dezman. In 1888, Italian doctor Carlo Forlanini performed the first artificial pneumothorax, causing lung collapse and filling the pleural cavities with nitrogen. Tuberculosis surgical treatments were developed and applied until the 1940s. A significant step forward in diagnosing tuberculosis was the discovery of the X-ray in 1895. Robert Koch discovered tuberculin in 1890, which initially was not a medicament but a diagnostic agent. Albert Calmette and his aide, Camille Guérin, achieved great progress in combatting tuberculosis. They succeeded in developing BCG (Bacillus Calmette- Guérin), a vaccine against tuberculosis first administered at a Paris hospital in 1921. In early 1943, Jörgen Eric Lehmann discovered paraminosalicylic acid (PAS), and in 1944, biochemist Selman Abraham Waksman and his associates developed the antibiotic streptomycin, the first medicine to treat tuberculosis. In the mid-1950s, an isoniazid was added to the combination of streptomycin and PAS, while and many other medicines such as pyrazinamides were subsequently discovered (1954). Ethambutol and rifampicin were introduced to the treatment protocol in 1961 and 1963, respectively. A new era of treatment for tuberculosis has begun and many tuberculosis sanatoriums have since been closed. The new treatment of tuberculosis in the Western world, together with BCG vaccination, reduced tuberculosis deaths by nearly 90% and shortened the duration of therapy from two years to six months. With this, the history of tuberculosis control and treatment has entered a new chapter

History of tuberculosis - from the first records to the detection of the agent (Part I)

Tuberkuloza je drevna bolest i oduvijek je bila neizostavni dio životne zajednice ljudi. Tijekom povijesti ostavila je duboki pečat ne samo u medicini već je bila širi društveno-socijalni fenomen. Deskriptivna paleopatologija početkom XX. stoljeća počela je opisivati promjene koje su prouzročene tuberkulozom na kostima, a napredak molekularne biologije presudno je doprinio dijagnozi tuberkuloze na drevnim uzorcima. Suvremenim tehnikama molekularne genetike i sekvencioniranjem genoma omogućena je preciznija procjena vremena nastanka mikobakterija. Sadašnje spoznaje govore da uzročnik tuberkuloze vrlo star, stariji od uzročnika kuge, tifusa ili malarije. Najstariji dokaz prisutnosti tuberkuloze u čovjeka pronađen je na kosturima u Izraelu (lokalitet Atlit Yam) (oko 9000 g. pr. Kr.). Postoje mnogi dokazi tuberkuloze na kostima mumija u starom Egiptu (2500 g. pr. Kr.). U klasičnoj Grčkoj postoje opis bolesti koju su nazivali phthisis (ftiza). Ftiza (sušica) je sinonim za kroničnu tuberkulozu pluća, kada se bolesnik u terminalnom stadiju „sasušio“ i izgledao kao „kost i koža“. U srednjem vijeku pojavio se opis skrofule (tuberkulozni adenitis vrata), poznata kao King’s Evil i dugo se vjerovalo da je može izliječiti kraljev dodir. U Hrvatskoj su u groba u Ivankovu nedaleko Vinkovaca okvirno datiranog u XVI. stoljeće otkrivene morfološke promjene s koštanom tuberkulozom - kifotična deformacija. Za nove spoznaje o tuberkulozi svako je zaslužan Teophile Laënnec, francuski liječnik koji je izumio stetoskop i slušanjem tjelesnih zvukova detaljno je opisao različite stadije tuberkuloze temeljene na auskultaciji. Francuski vojni kirurg Jean Antoine Villemin, pokusima je dokazao da je tuberkuloza prenosiva bolest i bio je među pionirima koji su pridonijeli razumijevanju bolesti. Povijest tuberkuloze najsnažnije je obilježio Robert Koch koji je 1882. godine otkrio uzročnika tuberkuloze, a 1905., dobio Nobelovu nagradu za fiziologiju i medicinu za istraživanje i otkriće uzročnika tuberkuloze. Umro je 1910. godine u Baden Badenu, Njemačka.Tuberculosis is an ancient disease and has always been an essential part of the human community. Throughout history, it has left a deep mark not only in medicine, but also as a social phenomenon. Descriptive palaeopathology in the early 17th century began to describe changes caused by bone tuberculosis, and advancements in molecular biology decisively have contributed to the diagnosis of tuberculosis on ancient samples. Modern techniques of molecular genetics and genome sequencing enable a more precise estimate of the time of formation of mycobacteria. Current findings suggest that the tuberculosis agent is very old, older than the agents of the plague, typhoid or malaria. The oldest evidence of tuberculosis in humans was found on skeletons in Israel (Atlit Yam site; about 9000 BC). There is wide evidence of tuberculosis on mummy bones in ancient Egypt (2500 BC). In ancient Greece, there was a description of a disease called phthisis. Phthisis is synonymous with chronic lung tuberculosis, when the patient “dried up” in the terminal stages and resembled “skin and bones”. In the Middle Ages, a description of scrofula (tuberculosis adenitis of the neck), known as King’s evil, appeared to have long been believed to be cured by the king’s touch. In Croatia, morphological changes with bone tuberculosis - a kyphotic deformation - were discovered in graves in Ivankovo near Vinkovci, dating back almost to the 16th century. Teophile Laënnec, the French doctor who invented the stethoscope, gave detailed descriptions of the different stages of ausculation-based tuberculosis. French military surgeon Jean Antoine Villemin conducted a series of experiments to prove that tuberculosis is a contagious disease, and he was among the pioneers who contributed to understanding the disease. The history of tuberculosis was strongly characterized by Robert Koch, who discovered the cause of tuberculosis in 1882, receiving the Nobel Prize for physiology and medicine in 1905 for his research and detection of the causes of tuberculosis. He died in 1910 in Baden Baden, Germany

Fear of disease and death – from the variola virus once to COVID-19 today

Bolesti su kroz čitavu povijest imale veliki utjecaj na razvoj i prosperitet čovječanstva, pobuđivale su pozornost zbog masovnosti pojave, velike smrtnosti među oboljelima i dalekosežnih posljedica koje su prouzročile. Zbog straha od gubitka zdravlja i nestanka života, bolest i smrt oduvijek su bile čovjekove bitne preokupacije. Velike epidemije su tijekom povijesti odlučivale o sudbini pojedinih naroda, slabile su snagu moćnih i velikih sila, prouzročile glad i bijedu. Epidemije velikih boginja, kuge, malarije, sifilisa, kolere, pjegavog tifusa, lepre i tuberkuloze obilježile su povijesti i bile su stalni pratitelj stradanja, nesreća i patnji ljudi tijekom minulih stoljeća. U XX. stoljeću „španjolska gripa ‒ majka svih pandemija“ obilježila je početak stoljeća, a pred kraj tog stoljeća pojava AIDS-a, svojom pojavom i posljedicama prestrašila je svijet. I u novom tisućljeću bolesti predstavljaju veliku i stalnu prijetnju današnjem društvu i dalje su jedan od najvećih ubojica u svijetu. Danas od zaraznih bolesti godišnje umire približno 15 milijuna ljudi. Pojava pandemije s COVID-19, najveće epidemije u XXI. stoljeću u iznimno kratkom vremenu promijenila je svijet i svijet je na koljenima. Ne mimoilazi ni bogate i svjetski snažne države ni državnike. Taj strah svakako postaje veći o opravdaniji kada Svjetska zdravstvena organizacija napominje da je čovječanstvo u ozbiljnoj i strašnoj opasnosti. Jedno je sigurno, a to je da nas pojava epidemije različitih bolesti potakne na duboko razmišljanje o budućnosti koja u tom slučaju postaje neizvjesna, remeti naše planove, korigira i usporava ciljeve.Throughout history, diseases have had a major impact on the development and prosperity of humankind. They arouse attention due to their mass occurrence, high mortality rates among the affected, and the far-reaching consequences caused. Due to the fear of loss of health and life, illness and death have always been an essential preoccupation for humans. During the past, great epidemics have decided the fate of individual nations, weakened the strength of large and powerful armies, caused hunger and misery. Epidemics of smallpox, plague, malaria, syphilis, cholera, epidemic typhus, and tuberculosis have marked history and been a constant companion to human suffering over many centuries. At the beginning of the 20th century there was the Spanish flu, called the „mother of all pandemics”, and by the end of the century, the appearance of AIDS frightened the world. It is clear that even in the new millennium, disease poses a strong and constant threat to society and continues to be one of the greatest killers in the world, with approximately 15 million people per year dying of infectious diseases today. The rapid appearance of the COVID-19 pandemic, the largest epidemic in the 21st century, has brought the world to its knees. Even wealthy nations and statesmen have not been bypassed. This fear is certainly becoming more justified with the assessment of the World Health Organization that humanity is in grave and terrible danger. One thing is certain: the occurrence of an epidemic prompts us to think deeply about the future, which quickly becomes uncertain, all plans disrupted, and goals shifted and slowed

The Spanish flu, the “mother” of all pandemics, ravaged the world 100 years ago

Epidemija španjolske gripe smatra se najtežom i najopasnijom pandemijom modernog vremena. Nijedna bolest, rat, glad ili drugi događaj u povijesti ljudskoga roda nije prouzročio toliko smrtnosti ljudi u tako kratkom vremenu. Započela je u proljeće 1918. godine i zahvatila je čitavi svijet. Po svemu sudeći bila je najveća prirodna katastrofa početkom XX. stoljeća. Prvi pandemijski val započeo je u proljeće 1918. godine (Kansas, SAD) kao blagi oblik bolesti, smrtni slučajevi bili su rijetkost pa zbog toga nije izazvao naročitu pozornost. Drugi val je bio iznimno smrtonosan, a krenuo je u jesen 1918. godine. Oboljelo je više od 30% svjetskog pučanstva (oko 500 milijuna ljudi), a smatra se da je umrlo od 50 do 100 milijuna ljudi. Unatoč toga španjolska gripa je nestala iz povijesti. Bila je zasjenjena Prvim svjetskim ratom i njegovim vojnim te društveno političkim posljedicama. Španjolska gripa može se smatrati „povijesnom nezgodom” i još jednom okrutnom posljedicom strašnog Prvog svjetskog rata.The Spanish flu epidemic is considered the most severe and most dangerous pandemic of modern times. No illness, war, hunger, or other event in the history of mankind has contributed to so much fatality in such a short time. It began in 1918 and spread quickly throughout the world. In all likelihood, it was the largest natural disaster of the early 20th century. The first pandemic wave began in the spring of 1918 (Kansas, USA) as a mild form of the disease, deaths were rare and therefore did not arouse any particular concerns. The second wave, which started in the fall of 1918, was extremely lethal. More than 30% of the world’s population (about 500 million people) fell ill and it is believed that 50 to 100 million people died. Despite this, the Spanish flu has disappeared from history. It was overshadowed by the First World War and its military and socio-political consequences. Spanish flu can be considered a “historic accident” and another cruel repercussion of the horrible First World War

Virusni proljev goveda: perzistentna infekcija dokazana u sedam godina stare krave - prikaz slučaja.

In this report a persistently infected cow was under surveillance for three years. In that period the level of antibodies and level of viremia were determined. Persistent infection was confirmed in blood serum samples taken at 3 week intervals and tested on the virus antigen by antigen enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and by inoculation in cell culture, which after incubation was stained by an imunoperoxidase technique. In order to determine the changes in antibody level and virus titer levels, blood samples were collected and tested each six months. Also, data on milk production were collected. The level of viremia was 104.5 throughout the period of the study, and antibodies were not detected by VNT. Milk production was above-average at all times. Average daily milk production over 305 days of lactation in 2009 and 2010 was 25 and 21 litres per day respectively. In the first five months of 2011 daily milk production was 15 litres per day. The cow was taken out of herd at the age of seven years.U ovom radu praćene su promjene u razini protutijela i promjene u titru virusa tijekom tri godine u perzistentno zaražene krave. Perzistentna zaraza je dokazana imunoenzimnim testom i izdvajanjem virusa u uzorcima krvnog seruma uzorkovanima dvaput u razmaku od 3 tjedna. Radi dokazivanja promjene u razini protutijela i titru virusa krv je od spomenute krave uzorkovana svakih šest mjeseci. Također su prikupljeni i praćeni podaci o mliječnosti krave. Titar virusa bio je 104,5 tijekom cijelog istraživanja pri čemu nije zabilježena pojava specifičnih protutijela. Mliječnost je bila iznad prosjeka tijekom cijeloga istraživanja. Prosječna dnevna proizvodnja mlijeka tijekom 305 dana laktacije 2009. i 2010. godine iznosila je 21 odnosno 25 L, a tijekom prvih 5 mjeseci 2011. godine 15 L. Krava je izlučena iz stada u dobi od sedam godina

An unknown horse disease appeared in Mraclin 80 years ago - what caused “Mraclin horse disease“?

U rujnu i listopadu 1938. godine pojavila se pojedinačno u turopoljskim selima Rakarje, Buševec i Kurilovec, a kao ograničena epizootija i u Mraclinu akutna neurološka bolest konja. Bolest je dobila naziv “mraclinska bolest konja” (MBK). Od ove bolesti oboljelo je i liječeno 200 od ukupno 442 konja u selu, a 25 ih je uginulo. Svi su imali gotovo jednake akutne neurološke simptome. Uzrok bolesti nikada nije dokazan. Velika sličnost kliničkih znakova MBK s bolešću konja prouzročene virusom Zapadnog Nila (VZN) ponukali su na pretpostavku da je VZN izazvao MBK 1938. godine. Analize razudbenih i patohistoloških nalaza uginulih konja ukazuju na masivnu nekrozu jetre prouzročenu intoksikacijom, kao osnovnim uzrokom uginuća. Živčani simptomi su posljedica hepatične encefalopatije, a krvarenja i žutica su očite posljedice jetrene disfunkcije. Može se zaključiti da je jedan od mogućih uzroka mraclinske bolesti konja intoksikacija. Ovakav je zaključak utemeljen na pronađenim patološkim nalazima iz 1938. godine u arhivi Zavoda za patologiju Veterinarskog fakulteta Sveučilišta u Zagrebu. Moguće pitanje je isto tako, čime su se konji otrovali? Diferencijalno dijagnostički je teško, ali ne i nemoguće isključiti virusne uzročnike bolesti poput VZN, što bi svakako jako pomoglo u točnom otkrivanju uzroka MBK iz 1938. godine.An acute neurological disease of horses appeared sporadically in September and October of 1938 in the villages of Rakarje, Buševec and Kurilovec in the Turopolje area, and as a limited epizootic event in Mraclin. The disease was named “Mraclin Horse Disease” (MHD). Of the 442 horses in the village, 200 came down with clinical signs and were treated, and 25 perished. All the affected horses had virtually identical acute neurological symptoms. The cause of the disease has not yet been proven, but the great similarity between the clinical signs of MHD with encephalomyelitis caused by the West Nile virus (WNV), suggested that WNV may have caused MHD in 1938. However, analysis of the pathological and pathohistological findings of horses that perished from MHD indicated massive necrosis of the liver caused by unknown toxin as the main cause of death. Neurological symptoms are a consequence of hepatic encephalopathy, and bleeding and icterus are obvious consequences of liver dysfunction. It can therefore be concluded that one of the possible causes of death was intoxication. This conclusion is based on the pathological findings of 1938, found in the archives of the Department of Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb. Another question that arises is what caused the poisoning of these horses? Differential diagnosis is difficult, but it is not impossible to exclude viral pathogens such as WNV, which would certainly help to detect the causative agent of MHD in 1938

Reservoirs of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex and their significance in the infection of animals and humans

Patogene mikobakterije imaju svoje domaćine, a većina njih i prirodne rezervoare u prirodi. Tuberkuloza prouzročena vrstom M. tuberculosis i dalje ostaje glavni uzročnik tuberkuloze u svijetu. M. bovis ima najrašireniji raspon prirodnih rezervoara od svih poznatih patogena. Različite vrste divljih životinja predstavljaju trajan rezervoar infekcije vrstom M. bovis za domaće životinje i ljude. U novije vrijeme otkrivene su i nove vrste mikobakterija (M. caprae, M. pinnipedii, M. mungi, M. orygis i M. suricattae) koje po svojim karakteristikama pripadaju u kompleks M. tuberculosis. Sve navedene vrste mikobakterija imaju svoje rezervoare u prirodi i kao zoonoze predstavljaju stalnu prijetnju za infekciju ljudi. M. leprae prouzroči lepru u ljudi. Dugo vremena se mislilo da je samo čovjek domaćin i rezervoar uzročnika. Danas je poznato da su prirodni rezervoari lepre devetopojasni pasanci (Dasypus novemcinctus) u SAD i Južnoj Americi, crvene vjeverice (Sciurus vulgaris) u Velikoj Britaniji i različite vrste majmuna u Africi i Aziji.Pathogenic micobacteria have their hosts and most also have natural reservoirs. Tuberculosis caused by M. tuberculosis remains the main cause of tuberculosis in the world. M. bovis has the widest natural reservoir range of all known pathogens. Different wildlife species represent a permanent reservoir of M. bovis infection for domestic animals and humans. New species of mycobacteria have recently been discovered (M. caprae, M. pinnipedii, M. mungi, M. orygis and M. suricattae) which by their characteristics belong to the M. tuberculosis complex. Each of these mycobacteria species have their own reservoirs in nature, and as zoonoses, present a constant threat to humans. M. leprae causes leprosy in humans. It was previously thought that only men were the host and reservoir of the causative agent. Today, it is well-known that natural reservoirs are nine banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus) in the United States and South America, red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris) in the United Kingdom and various types of monkeys in Africa and Asia