Publications

pulmonary mycobacterium avium-intracellulare is the main driver of the rise in non-tuberculous mycobacteria incidence in england, wales and northern ireland, 2007-2012.	the incidence of non-tuberculous mycobacteria (ntm) isolation from humans is increasing worldwide. in england, wales and northern ireland (ew&ni) the reported rate of ntm more than doubled between 1996 and 2006. although ntm infection has traditionally been associated with immunosuppressed individuals or those with severe underlying lung damage, pulmonary ntm infection and disease may occur in people with no overt immune deficiency. here we report the incidence of ntm isolation in ew&ni between ...	2016	27154015
detectability of bovine tb using the tuberculin skin test does not vary significantly according to pathogen genotype within northern ireland.	strains of many infectious diseases differ in parameters that influence epidemic spread, for example virulence, transmissibility, detectability and host specificity. knowledge of inter-strain variation can be exploited to improve management and decrease disease incidence. bovine tuberculosis (btb) is increasingly prevalent among farmed cattle in the uk, exerting a heavy economic burden on the farming industry and government. we aimed to determine whether strains of mycobacterium bovis (the causa ...	2013	23712123
culture phenotypes of genomically and geographically diverse mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis isolates from different hosts.	mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis causes paratuberculosis (johne's disease) in ruminants in most countries. historical data suggest substantial differences in culturability of m. avium subsp. paratuberculosis isolates from small ruminants and cattle; however, a systematic comparison of culture media and isolates from different countries and hosts has not been undertaken. here, 35 field isolates from the united states, spain, northern ireland, and australia were propagated in bactec 12b ...	2011	21430104
increasing reports of non-tuberculous mycobacteria in england, wales and northern ireland, 1995-2006.	non-tuberculous mycobacteria have long been identified as capable of causing human disease and the number at risk, due to immune-suppression, is rising. several reports have suggested incidence to be increasing, yet routine surveillance-based evidence is lacking. we investigated recent trends in, and the epidemiology of, non-tuberculous mycobacterial infections in england, wales and northern ireland, 1995-2006.	2010	20950421
detection of bovine tuberculosis in herds with different disease prevalence and influence of paratuberculosis infection on ppdb and esat-6/cfp10 specificity.	bovine tuberculosis (btb) is a major animal health problem with zoonotic implications. current control programs are based on test and slaughter strategies utilizing skin tests with tuberculins as antigens. the low specificity and associated operative difficulties of these tests have driven the search for new antigens and diagnostic assays. in this multicenter study, using herds from argentina, mexico and northern ireland, we selected skin test positive and negative animals from herds with differ ...	2010	20630607
mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis in lake catchments, in river water abstracted for domestic use, and in effluent from domestic sewage treatment works: diverse opportunities for environmental cycling and human exposure.	mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis from infected animals enters surface waters and rivers in runoff from contaminated pastures. we studied the river tywi in south wales, united kingdom, whose catchment comprises 1,100 km2 containing more than a million dairy and beef cattle and more than 1.3 million sheep. the river tywi is abstracted for the domestic water supply. between august 2002 and april 2003, 48 of 70 (68.8%) twice-weekly river water samples tested positive by is900 pcr. in rive ...	2006	16751517
occurrence of mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis in untreated water in northern ireland.	mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis is the known cause of johne's disease of both domestic and wild ruminants and has been implicated as a possible cause of crohn's disease in humans. the organism is shed in the feces of infected animals and can survive for protracted periods in the environment and hence could be present in catchment areas receiving agricultural runoff. a limited survey was undertaken in northern ireland to test for m. avium subsp. paratuberculosis in untreated water ent ...	2005	16269747
molecular analyses of mycobacteria other than the m. tuberculosis complex isolated from northern ireland cattle.	mycobacteria other than the mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (mott), isolated from northern ireland cattle, were identified by pcr amplification of the 16s rrna gene, and subsequent reverse cross blot hybridisation and sequence analyses. elucidation of the mott species was to facilitate specificity testing of new and existing diagnostic test reagents for bovine tuberculosis. the presence of the genes for potential diagnostic antigens: mpb70, mpb64, esat-6 and cfp-10 in the isolated mott specie ...	2005	15917138
is mad cow disease caused by a bacteria?	transmissible spongioform enchephalopathies (tse's), include bovine spongiform encephalopathy (also called bse or "mad cow disease"), creutzfeldt-jakob disease (cjd) in humans, and scrapie in sheep. they remain a mystery, their cause hotly debated. but between 1994 and 1996, 12 people in england came down with cjd, the human form of mad cow, and all had eaten beef from suspect cows. current mad cow diagnosis lies solely in the detection of late appearing "prions", an acronym for hypothesized, ge ...	2004	15325025
incidence of mycobacterium paratuberculosis in raw sheep and goats' milk in england, wales and northern ireland.	a blind survey of 104 raw sheep and goats' milk samples (90 goat, 14 sheeps) from bulk tanks on farms throughout england, wales and northern ireland was carried out over a 5-month period (january-may 1998) in order to determine the incidence of mycobacterium paratuberculosis. each milk sample (100 ml) was divided into two 50ml portions. one portion was decontaminated with 0.75% hexadecylpyridinium chloride for 5h before culture on slopes of herrold's egg yolk medium and in bactec radiometric med ...	2001	11230934