Tuberculosis in mandrills at the Lisbon zoo

Abstract

We would like to report two tuberculosis cases in a group of 10 mandrill baboons (Mandrillus sphinx) at the Lisbon zoo. In early 2006, a 16-year-old female, brought in from France in 1998, started to show signs of apathy, coughing and weight loss. Identical clinical signs were observed shortly after, in its threeyear-old daughter.Tuberculosis in zoo animals is uncommon in Portugal. This case reinforces the need for continuous veterinary surveillance of zoo animals as they could act as reservoirs for human pathogens.