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Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Scientists from the University of Surrey and University of Geneva have discovered that the bacterium which causes bovine TB can survive and grow in small, single-celled organisms found in soil and dung. It is believed that originally the bacterium evolved to survive in these single-celled organisms known as amoebae and in time progressed to infect and cause TB in larger animals such as cattle.

During the study, published in the ISME Journal, scientists sought to understand more about the cattle and humans.

Scientists also discovered that M. bovis remained metabolically active and continued to grow, although at a slower pace, at lower temperatures than expected. Previously it was thought the bacterium could only replicate at 37˚C, the body temperature of cattle and humans; however, replication of the bacterium was identified at 25 ˚C. Researchers believe that the bacterium's ability to adapt to ambient temperatures and survive in amoebae may partially explain high transmission rates of the bacterium between animals.

[...] "An important additional benefit is that our research shows the potential for carrying out at least some future TB research in amoebae rather than in large animals."

More information: Rachel E Butler et al. Mycobacterium bovis uses the ESX-1 Type VII secretion system to escape predation by the soil-dwelling amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum, The ISME Journal (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41396-019-0572-z

Original Submission