Posted on 01/08/2016 9:52:00 PM PST by BenLurkin
The good news is that even though TB is highly contagious, the three infected elephants at the zoo did not spread the disease to visitors, including those who attended one of Rama's painting parties in which he created splatter paintings.
About 5 percent of the captive Asian elephants in North America are infected. The disease can be deadly to elephants. Three pachyderms at an exotic animal farm in Illinois died from the disease between 1994 and 1996, according to the CDC. One handler in that outbreak got sick as well.
At the Oregon Zoo, the first case popped up in May 2013, when a test on Rama was positive. At the time, the animals were checked annually for TB by testing secretions from their trunks. In December, Packy tested positive, followed by Tusko in June 2014.
All three animals were put on a months-long round of treatment and the zoo enacted safety measures, according to Bob Lee, the zoo's elephant curator. He said staff with close contact with the elephants have donned protective masks that are form fitted to their faces. Employees also stopped using a pressure washer to disinfect the areas and switched to a regular hose to avoid blasting bacteria around. The infected elephants were kept away from the other pachyderms but still could see, hear and smell the other elephants.
(Excerpt) Read more at oregonlive.com ...
I’ll take 2000 pounds of antibiotics to go.
In other news...
Tuberculosis splatter paintings are selling for a new low.
Had it in my mid-twenties. They locked me in the TB Ward at Milwaukee General for almost a year. Lost everything I owned. They finally went into my lungs and took a sample. Atypical, not contagious, and probably caught when gardening. They are a bunch of types of TB. Sure screwed up my life!
Ouch!
Yeah. Plus I always test positive now, and have to do a lot of explaining. And,,,, there are a lot of medicines I can’t take.
Anti bezz are worthless agin. Buy into ORGANIC INfESTED MEAT and I CHING chang. psa sell sell sell
Zookeepers who work with monkeys and primates should be tested annually for TB.
Portland’s wet climate can’t help these elephants.
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