Transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from a Cadaver to an Embalmer

Abstract

The risk of acquiring tuberculosis varies according to occupation and is high among funeral-home workers.1 Embalmers are at particularly high risk for reactivity on tuberculin skin testing.2 The increased risk may be due to exposure to Mycobacterium tuberculosis during the embalming process, which involves the aspiration of blood and other body fluids from the cadaver, resulting in the generation of potentially infectious aerosols. To our knowledge, however, the transmission of M. tuberculosis from a cadaver to an embalmer, with the subsequent development of active tuberculosis, has not been described. DNA fingerprinting by restriction-fragment–length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis can be useful in . . .