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:
Next scientific publications:
- Jimenez-Martin D., Garcia-Bocanegra I., Risalde MA., Napp S., Dominguez M., Romero B., Moreno I., Martinez R. and Cano-Terriza D.. Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex in domestic goats in Southern Spain. Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 227:106204. 2024. (A)
Last scientific publications:
- Velasco-Reinaldos C., Ortega J., Gómez-Buendía A., Grau A., Lopez M., Alvarez J., Romero B., de Juan L. and Bezos J.. Evaluation of the Effect of a Recent Comparative Intradermal Tuberculin Test on the Humoral Diagnosis of Paratuberculosis Using Serum and Milk Samples from Goats. Veterinary sciences, 11(3):105. 2024. (A)
- Velasco-Reinaldos C., Ortega J., Rincón-Fernández de la Puente J., Romero B., de Juan L., Dominguez L., Dominguez M., Moreno I., Alvarez J. and Bezos J.. Effect of a recent intradermal test on the specificity of P22 ELISA for the diagnosis of caprine tuberculosis. Frontiers in veterinary science, 11:1-7. 2024. (A)
- Gómez-Buendía A., Alvarez J., Bezos J., Mourelo J., Amado J., Saez-Llorente JL., de Juan L. and Romero B.. Non-tuberculous mycobacteria: occurrence in skin test cattle reactors from official tuberculosis-free herds. Frontiers in veterinary science, 11:1361788. 2024. (A)
- Ferreras E., Contreras M., Risalde MA., Sevilla IA., Delgado E., Dominguez L., Gortazar C. and de la Fuente J.. Heat-inactivated mycobacteria activate the toll-like receptor 2 and 4 pathways in the zebrafish model of tuberculosis. Vaccine, S0264-410X(23)01544-X. 2024. (A)
- Gortazar C., de la Fuente J., Perello A. and Dominguez L.. Will we ever eradicate animal tuberculosis?. Irish veterinary journal, 76(Suppl 1):24. 2023. (A)
Next PhD thesis:
- Javier Ortega Martín. Study of factors affecting the diagnostic performance of cellular and humoral-based techniques for caprine tuberculosis. 2024.
Last PhD thesis:
- 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)
- Yurena Navarro García. Detección, caracterización y análisis funcional de la complejidad clonal en la tuberculosis humana y bovina. 2015.
Outreach
Last outreach publications:
- 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.
- Velasco-Reinaldos C., Roy A., Ortega J., Romero B., Alvarez J., Dominguez M., Moreno I., Diez-Guerrier A., de Juan L., Dominguez L. and Bezos J.. Mejorando el diagnóstico para ayudar en la erradicación de la tuberculosis en los rumiantes domésticos: el proyecto internacionalo imdiTBap. Ruminews, Noviembre 2023, Agrinews. 2023.
- Velasco-Reinaldos C., Ortega J., Lorente-Leal V., Romero B., de Juan L. and Bezos J.. Nuevas metodologías para el diagnóstico ante-mortem de la tuberculosis bovina, ¿tiene futuro?. Tierras Vacuno, 1, Novaágora. 2023.
- Gonzalez S., Lozano F., Alvarez J., Romero B., Bezos J. and de Juan L.. Tuberculosis in the new Animal Health Law. VISAVET Outreach Journal, VISAVET Health Surveillance Centre (U.C.M.). 2021.
- Roy A., Dominguez L., Puentes E. and Bezos J.. Evaluación de nuevas vacunas frente a la tuberculosis caprina. Tierras. Caprino, 33:20-25, Sociedad Española de Ovinotecnia y Caprinotecnia. 2021.
Last communications:
- Ferrara X.. Study of vaccine candidates against bovine tuberculosis. Seminarios VISAVET 2024. 2024. (Oral communication)
- Diez-Guerrier A. y Blazquez JC.. Traslado al cebadero. Jornada práctica. Realización de la prueba de IDTB. Parte 1: Rasurado, 1a lectura e inuculación intradérmica de la PPDs. Parte 2: Interpretación de la prueba. Validación individual de la prueba práctica. Curso de formación en los aspectos teóricos, prácticos y de base legal en el diagnóstico de la tuberculosis bovina. 2024. (Oral communication)
- Diez-Guerrier A. y Blazquez JC.. Resultado individuales y colectivos de la validación de la prueba de la tuberculina. Recomendaciones y plan de acción.. Curso de formación en los aspectos teóricos, prácticos y de base legal en el diagnóstico de la tuberculosis bovina. 2024. (Oral communication)
- Alvarez J.. Interferencia diagnóstica en la tuberculosis. Estudios de sensibilidad y especificidad. Curso de formación en los aspectos teóricos, prácticos y de base legal en el diagnóstico de la tuberculosis bovina. 2024. (Oral communication)
- Romero B.. Diagnóstico microbiológico de la tuberculosis. Identificación del agente etiológico. Manual y normativa aplicable. Toma de muestras. Curso de formación en los aspectos teóricos, prácticos y de base legal en el diagnóstico de la tuberculosis bovina. 2024. (Oral communication)
