A Pachyderm Sized Problem

If you were asked to name the number one cause of death in adults in the world would you answer AIDs, cancer or heart disease? If you did, you are not alone but you are not correct. Over two billion, or approximately 1/3 of the world's adults are infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Over two billion of the world’s adults are infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

According to the World Health Organization, they report that after 40 years of a steady decline in the numbers of deaths due to tuberculosis, the fatality rate is on the rise. Drinking unpasteurized milk used to be a common way in which people became infected with TB. Now such cases are extremely rare. The spread is now directly person-to-person.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is one of the few diseases that can be spread from people to animals.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is one of the few diseases that can be spread from people to animals. This is called a reverse zoonosis. Humans with their increased contact with wildlife and animals in general has lead to an alarming rise in the number of species that now suffer from this disease of the lungs.

Pet monkeys have become infected by inhaling the infective organism from their owners. This agent has also sickened cats and dogs, but the rate of infection from people to the pets they share their homes with is very low.

Even circus elephants and zoo animals have fallen victim to the inadvertent exposure to this potentially deadly airborne disease.

How best to protect yourself and your pets? Have a routine tuberculosis testing if suggested by your doctor or if you are informed that you may have suffered exposure. A cough that does not resolve may be the only sign you see.