Mycobacterium tuberculosis Infection in Free-Roaming Wild Asian Elephant

Abstract

Postmortem examination of a wild Asian elephant at Rajiv Gandhi National Park, India, revealed nodular lesions, granulomas with central caseation, and acid-fast bacilli in the lungs. PCR and nucleotide sequencing confirmed the presence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. This study indicates that wild elephants can harbor M. tuberculosis that can become fatal.

Keywords

• Mycobacterium
• tuberculosis and other mycobacteria
• bacteria
• Asian elephant
• Elephas maximus
• zoonoses