TUBERCULOSIS IN POLISH ZOOS AS HEALTH RISK FOR HUMANS

Introduction. Tuberculosis is an infectious disease of humans and animals caused by the organism of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC). It is one of the most widespread infectious diseases occurring in zoos. Taking into account the number of visitors to these sites, tuberculosis remains a major public health problem.

Material and methods. The study material consisted of lymph nodes, and internal organs collected post mortem from five zoo animals suspected of tuberculosis: antelope, two tapirs, alpaca and bison. The animals came from the zoos in Gdańsk, Wrocław and Chorzów. The microbiological analysis of 5 MTBC strains was performed to determine the molecular relationships among them.

Results. Five strains were isolated in the microbiological examination, 3 of which were identified as Mycobacterium bovis and 2 − as Mycobacterium caprae. 3 spoligotypes, i.e. SB1912, SB0856, SB2416, were obtained by spoligotyping. To confirm the transmission of tuberculosis in the studied animal population, the MIRU-VNTR method was applied. The unique patterns were assigned to 3 strains and the other 2 of the same pattern were assigned to one cluster, which would indicate the transmission of tuberculosis among animals.

Conclusions. The obtained results exclude the transmission of tuberculosis between zoos.