Tuberculosis is a chronic infection caused by strains of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex and occurs in both animal and human populations. The death of a tapir showing purulent material and a hard mass in the lungs at necropsy raised suspicion of a potential disease caused by mycobacteria species in a Brazilian zoo. Later, two other tapirs with similar signs died and were further investigated. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) from bronco-alveolar lavages was performed, and both animals tested positive for the RD(Rio) strain of M. tuberculosis, which is a recently discovered Latin American-Mediterranean sublineage and the main cause of human tuberculosis in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. To investigate the possibility of human infection and the source of transmission, all 50 zoo employees underwent tuberculin skin testing; four were reactive, but radiographic exams and direct sample staining did not suggest tuberculosis. Thus, direct human to animal transmission was not proven. However, the presence of RD(Rio) M. tuberculosis in tapirs highlights the lack of attention to diseases that human beings may transmit to wildlife.

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This paper describes the in vivo Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) technique by endoscopy in tapirs (Tapirus terrestris) with clinical signs of tuberculosis. The technique was performed in two tapirs, male and female, from Curitiba Zoo, Paraná, Brazil. A flexible endoscope and a polyethylene catheter were used after the chemical restraint of the animals. For BAL technique, 60mL of saline 0.9% were infused with a polyethylene catheter, introduced by the endoscope's working channel, and 15mL of BAL were recovered, analyzed and submitted to cytocentrifugation. Slides were stained by Papanicolaou, periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) and Ziehl-Neelsen methods contained high quantity of inflammatory cells on light microscopy (macrophages 27.5%, lymphocytes 0.5%, neutrophis 67% and eosinophis 5%). BAL samples were submitted to culture, bacilloscopy and PCR and were negative for both animals. Based on this study, it was concluded that the bronchoalveolar lavage technique in tapirs is feasible, simple, noninvasive, practical and fast, providing an important clinical information in vivo regarding the functional status of the lower respiratory tract.

A infecção de bovinos por micobactérias,causada principalmente pelo Mycobacteriumbovis, tem grande importância devido às enormesperdas econômicas e os riscos à saúde pública relacionadosao seu elevado potencial zoonótico. Oobjetivo deste trabalho foi testar um protocolo dedetecção molecular das subespécies do ComplexoMycobacterium tuberculosis (CMT) a partir de culturabacteriana. Amostras de órgãos de cinco bovinossuspeitos para a infecção foram submetidasao cultivo bacteriano e à PCR para a pesquisa deMycobacterium sp. O DNA bacteriano foi extraídodas colônias formadas para a realização de PCRcom sete pares de primers: 16S rRNA, Rv0577,IS1561, Rv1510, Rv1970, Rv3877/8 e Rv3120. Areação foi positiva para todos os animais e os resultadosmostraram que o perfil da PCR foi adequadopara identificar M. bovis, estabelecendo especificidadede detecção, enquanto a cultura determinaapenas o gênero Mycobacterium. Esse diagnósticomais específico, sensível e rápido oferece vantagenspara o controle e erradicação da tuberculosebovina no Brasil, em particular no diagnóstico postmortemda doença, e contribui com a avaliação desuas implicações na saúde do homem, pelo consumode alimentos contaminados e por ser um perigo ocupacional em frigoríficos e fazendas.