MYCOBACTERIUM-TUBERCULOSIS INFECTION AS A ZOONOTIC DISEASE - TRANSMISSION BETWEEN HUMANS AND ELEPHANTS

Between 1994 and 1996, three elephants from an exotic animal farm in I llinois died of pulmonary disease due to Mycobacterium tuberculosis. I n October 1996, a fourth living elephant was culture-positive for M. t uberculosis. Twenty-two handlers at the farm were screened for tubercu losis (TB); eleven had positive reactions to intradermal injection wit h purified protein derivative. One had smear-negative, culture-positiv e active TB. DNA fingerprint comparison by IS6110 and TBN12 typing sho wed that the isolates from the four elephants and the handler with act ive TB were the same strain. This investigation indicates transmission of M. tuberculosis between humans and elephants.