Isolation of MTBC (Mycobacterium tuberculosis Complex) from captive wild animals from India
Members of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) cause tuberculosis in a wide range of animal species, posing a substantial threat to both public health and wildlife conservation. Mycobacterium orygis, an emerging MTBC pathogen, has gained increasing attention due to its detection across diverse wildlife and livestock populations in India; however, its epidemiology, host range, and transmission pathways remain poorly understood. Moreover, the isolation of human-adapted M. tuberculosis lineages from animals highlights the growing risk of reverse zoonosis, wherein pathogens spill over from humans to animals, potentially establishing new reservoirs and complicating TB control efforts at the human animal interface.