Circus Elephants with Tuberculosis are a Real Threat to People
"That little girl could be in very real danger of catching a communicable disease that could make her very ill or even kill her." World-renowned epidemiologist and head of the first HIV division for the Centers for Disease Control, Don Francis says."
"When elephants enter an arena they often spew mucus from their spouts. If circus patrons are within shot of the effluence and the animal is sick, it could spread m-tuberculosis to the patron or worse. It could spread a drug resistant form of tuberculosis."
Why elephants aren't welcome in Vermont
"We don't allow elephants in Vermont primarily for safety concerns, primarily public health concerns," said Col. Dave LeCours of the Vt. Fish and Wildlife Department.
"Fish and Wildlife says elephants are common carriers of human tuberculosis, a contagious respiratory disease that's airborne. Allowing the ivory tusked animals in is not something state officials are willing to risk."
TB-reactive elephant, Topsey, denied entry into Wisconsin
"Topsey is prohibited entry into Wisconsin based on failure to complete the requirements under the Guidelines for the Control of Tuberculosis in Elephants 2010, section 7 Group 2 C." -- State of Wisconsin, Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.http://www.allanimals.org/files/ren-faire-tb-docs.pdf June 27, 2012
“At least two Ringling elephants have died after giving negative trunk washings for M-TB and during necropsies, tuberculosis- lesions were found on their lungs -- they were contagious the entire time they traveled the country and the world.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/leslie-griffith/the-greatest-lie-on-earth_b_115199.html The Greatest Lie on Earth, 7/28/2008
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) states:
“Captive elephants have emerged as an unanticipated source of M. tuberculosis infection among humans and therefore must be integrated in our strategies to control and eliminate TB. Because of the gaps in scientific knowledge, the high prevalence of M. tuberculosis infection among elephants living in North America, and the insensitivity of diagnostic tests, a substantial need exists for focusing attention on infection control practices and occupational health programs specifically designed to reduce zoonotic M. tuberculosis transmission in the captive elephant industry.”
http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/17/3/10-1668_article.htm "Elephant-to-Human Transmission of Tuberculosis, 2009." Emerging Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control: Vol 17, Mar 2011
The incidence of TB appears to be higher in circus elephants than in zoos, says Lyashchenko. He notes that TB has more opportunity to spread among circus elephants than in zoo or sanctuary elephants, because they travel together more frequently and are both kept in closer proximity to, and exposed to greater numbers of people and other animals.
http://phys.org/wire-news/107182060/august-2012-tips-from-the-journals-of-the-american-society-for-m.html New Diagnostic Fast and Effective at Finding TB in Elephants: Benefits for Pachyderms and Public Health. Aug 2012.
Kenneth Feld owns Ringling Bros.
“Most, if not all of Kenneth Feld's performing endangered elephants have had Mycobacterium Tuberculosis. At least as many as 26 have died over the last 15 years with necropsies indicating most had tuberculosis and in some cases never knew it. I cannot stop thinking about little kids and old or sick circus patrons with compromised immune systems sitting "Under the Big Top" eating cotton candy and getting exposed to TB. The stories of TB cases rising inundate newspapers, and it's a fact, elephants and humans have the same type of TB and it can be transmitted to humans.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/leslie-griffith/reckoning-at-ringling-bro_b_164113.html Reckoning at Ringling Bros., 2/4/2009
"Joel Kaplan, a former private investigator who worked for Feld, alleged in a deposition in the Smith case that TB was a serious problem among the pachyderms. “I think it’s immoral to have elephants traveling in every arena in the country with tuberculosis,” noted Kaplan, who filed his own lawsuit and settled for $250,000. He stated that he had been told by a Ringling Bros. veterinarian that “about half of the elephants in each of the shows had tuberculosis and that the tuberculosis was an easily transmitted disease to individuals, to human beings.”
http://www2.orlandoweekly.com/features/story.asp?id=12594 Dirty Secret Under the Big Top, 9/2008
Why the Media Is Not Protecting the People
…"The World Health Organization said today there is concern that a new form of drug resistant tuberculosis is spreading across the country and the world." As a journalist who worked for a large media corporation, I had tried to warn people of this possibility for the previous two years. I knew TB positive and TB infected elephants were one reason there was a drug resistant strain of TB. I also knew why the story was kept a secret, and the reporter (me) had been silenced. The corporation potentially spreading the tuberculosis is considered "an American Institution." That corporation, Feld Inc., owns Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus and at least 25 other corporations....."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/leslie-griffith/idiocracy-why-the-media-i_b_69546.html Idiocracy: Why the Media Is Not Protecting the People, 10/2007
Human TB in Circus Elephant Herd…. "In an otherwise tragic situation of abused domesticated elephants, investigators learned that elephants and humans transmit Mycobacterium tuberculosis between them."
http://www.semp.us/publications/biot_reader.php?BiotID=438 Suburban Emergency Management Project, Jul 5, 2007
2007: USDA and the Florida Department of Agriculture quarantine Ringling's Center for Elephant Conservation facility for TB
Tuberculosis in Circus Elephants
http://www.lapublichealth.org/vet/pubs/veteltb.pdf C. Patrick Ryan, DVM MPH, Southern Calif. Veterinary Medical Assn: Jan 1997
Tuberculosis and violation history
More info, here