Fatal Tuberculosis in a Free-Ranging African Elephant and One Health Implications of Human Pathogens in Wildlife

Front Vet Sci. 2019 Feb 6:6:18. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2019.00018. eCollection 2019.

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) in humans is a global public health concern and the discovery of animal cases of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection and disease, especially in multi-host settings, also has significant implications for public health, veterinary disease control, and conservation endeavors. This paper describes a fatal case of Mtb disease in a free-ranging African elephant (Loxodonta africana) in a high human TB burden region. Necropsy revealed extensive granulomatous pneumonia, from which Mtb was isolated and identified as a member of LAM3/F11 lineage; a common lineage found in humans in South Africa. These findings are contextualized within a framework of emerging Mtb disease in wildlife globally and highlights the importance of the One Health paradigm in addressing this anthroponotic threat to wildlife and the zoonotic implications.

Keywords: African elephant; Loxodonta africana; Mycobacterium tuberculosis; anthroponosis; one health; tuberculosis; wildlife disease.