Prevalence of tuberculosis in zoo felids of Madhya Pradesh

The present study was conducted during February 2014 to October 2014. During the study period 42 faecal and 22 Blood samples were collected from captive felids (tiger, lion and leopard) from 03 different zoos namely Van Vihar National Park, Bhopal; Kamla Nehru Prani Udhyan, Indore and Gandhi Zoological Park, Gwalior. The post mortem examination of two captive leopards performed at Van Vihar National Park Bhopal. Suspected leopard revealed the presence of tubercles in lung tissue and acid fast bacilli in the impression smear stained with Ziehl Neelsen stain. DNA was extracted from 42 faecal, 22 blood and 01 lung tissue samples using extraction kit and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) was performed using IS6110 (M. tuberculosis complex) and pncA gene (M. bovis) and IS6110 (M. bovis). Impression smear and DNA extracted from lung tissue of leopard showed positive reaction for tuberculosis.