Natural Science Forum / Biology / Microbiology / April 2005

Hi, I'm a student taking a bacteriology class and I'm having some
trouble answering one of the assignment questions. I need to identify
the micro-organism based on the following clinical signs:

White middle aged male patient with several months of significant
weight loss, malabsorption, fatty stools and persistent abdominal
pain. Diagnostics revealed large granulomatous lesion in the esophagus
and in the gastrointestinal tract. Histologically, large bacilli were
seen inside macrophages and traditional antigen based detection and
culture have failed.

What approach should I use to identify this organism, and what could
the organism possibly be?

Thanks in advance.