Abstract
Mycobacterium avium subsp. avium (MAA) is the main tuberculosis pathogen of poultry and wild birds. MAA can also infect mammals such as pigs, cattle, and horses and can pose a threat to people with low immunity. Here, we describe the first identification of MAA strain HJW isolated from a cow in Jilin Province, China. The isolate was completely sequenced and a phylogenetic analysis of its relationship to members of the Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) was performed. The results revealed that strain HJW was type MAA based on the analysis of insertion sequence amplification and whole genome sequencing. The HJW genome size was 4,961,843 bp with a GC content of 69.28%. The strain was genetically most closely related to the Mycobacterium avium subsp. avium strain DSM 44156. This study suggests that MAA may pose an infection risk to cattle and provides data support for the phylogeny of Mycobacterium avium.