Medical Dictionary
Main Entry:
vole bacillus Function:
noun : a bacterium of the genus
Mycobacterium that is classified either as a distinct species (
M. microti) or as avariety (
M. tuberculosis var.
muris) of the tubercle bacillus, that was first isolated from a wild European vole of the genus
Microtus (
M. agrestis), and that has been usedto immunize individuals against the tubercle bacillus and a related bacterium (
Mycobacterium bovis syn.
M. tuberculosis var.
bovis)
