Analysis with anti-Mycobacterium bovis BCG and anti-M. bovis Ravenel sera, absorption tests with anti-η antibody, and the failure to detect any factor that affected η antigenic activity in M. bovis BCG or strain H37Ra confirmed the absence of η precipitinogen in M. bovis BCG and Ravenel. No η-positive strains were found among 7 strains of M. bovis, 19 representative strains of 15 mycobacterial species other than Mycobacterium tuberculosis and M. bovis, or 13 niacin-negative strains of mycobacteria isolated from patients. However, η activity was detected in all 9 laboratory strains of M. tuberculosis tested, including virulent and avirulent strains, and in 29 of 30 niacin-positive strains isolated from patients, including 15 strains with single or multiple resistance to seven drugs.
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