S.N | Authors | Research Design | Type of diagnosis | Diagnostic method | Country | Elephant species | Source | Prevalence (%) | Main findings |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Mikota et al. (2000) [15] | Cross sectional study | Culture | Culture | USA | Asian Elephant | Captive and Free-ranging | 3.30% | Further research is essential to validate other diagnostic tests and treatment protocols. |
2 | Abraham (2009) [32] | Cross-sectional study | Serology | Elephant TB Stat-Pak | India | Asian Elephants | Captive | 15.20% | The rapid serum test showed that not less than 15.2% of the population has seropositivity to M.bovis |
3 | Murphree et al. (2011) [20] | Cohort study and onsite assessment | Culture | Culture of environmental samples and trunk wash. | USA | Asian and African elephant | Refuge | All were Negative except for specimens taken in December 2008 from 1 elephant living in the quarantine area | The risk for conversion was increased for elephant caregivers and administrative employees working in the barn housing |
4 | Verma et al. (2012) [33] | Cross-sectional study design | Culture & Serology | Culture, ELISA, Immunoblot analysis | India | Asian elephant | Captive | 15.90% | High prevalence of asymptomatic M. tuberculosis infection in Asian elephants in a captive Indian setting. |
5 | Feldman et al. (2013) [37] | Prevalence study | Culture | Culture of trunk wash sample (n1 = 684 Asian, and n2 = 459 African) | USA | Asian elephant | Captive | 5.10% | The incidence of tuberculosis differed significantly between Asian and African elephants. Accurate and species-specific knowledge of prevalence and incidence will inform our efforts to mitigate occupational risks associated with captive elephants in the USA. |
6 | Ong et al. (2013) [36] | A cross-sectional study | Serology | Elephant TB Stat-Pak assay/ TB antigen rapid test, trunk wash samples, QuantiFERON-TB Gold ELISA | Malaysia | Asian elephant | Captive | 20.40% | There was evidence of active and latent TB in the elephants and the high seroprevalence in the elephants and their handlers suggests frequent, close contact, two-way transmission between animals and humans within confined workplaces. |
7 | Yakubu (2015) [34] | Cross sectional study | Molecular | PCR | Malaysia | Asian elephant | Captive | 23.33% | Risk of infection to be significantly associated with facility staff, workers older than 30 years of age, mahouts, and foreigners. |
8 | Mikota et al. (2015) [39] | Prospective study | Serology & Culture | Elephant TB Stat-Pak assay, Culture | Nepal | Asian Elephant | Captive | 0% | Culture and serological results were variable and required careful interpretation to develop criteria to assess TB risk. |
9 | Yakubu et al. (2016) [40] | Cohort and Cross-sectional study | Serology | STAT-PAK and DPP VetTB Assays, QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-tube test (QFT) were used. | Malaysia | Asian elephant | Captive | 23.30% | Univariate analysis showed that elephants with assigned mahouts have significantly higher risk of TB OR = 3.8 The risk of seroconversion was significantly higher among elephants with assigned mahouts [OR = 4.9] |
10 | Magnuson et al. (2017) [41] | Clinical research | Culture and Molecular | Culture, PCR | USA | Asian elephant | Captive | 8.40% | Molecular test results can be used to support current diagnostic procedures applied by veterinarians for treatment decisions to prevent the spread of tuberculosis in elephants. |
11 | Rosen et al. (2018) [10] | Cross sectional study | Serology | Elephant TB Stat-Pak and DPP VetTB Assay | Zimbabwe | African elephant | Captive | 17.10% | Strong correlations were noted between contact with wild elephants and facilities (p = 0.86) |
12 | Jeewan et al. (2021) [35] | Cross sectional study | Serology | Elephant TB Stat-Pak | Nepal | Asian elephant | Captive | 21.56% | The occurrence of TB seropositive cases in other more remote national parks suggest TB may be wide spread among the captive elephant population of Nepal |