An Outbreak of Tuberculosis in a Deer Farm

Abstract

An outbreak of tuberculosis occurred in a deer farm in Aomori Prefecture. In 1988a total of 288 animals of Cervus unicolor and Cervus nippon were introduced from Southeast Asia, and 136 (47.2%) of them and 96 of 146 (65.8%) self-bred deers died within 3 years. Tuberculous lesions have been formed in the lung, pulumonal lymph nodes and various organs of 30 autopsied cases, and histopathology revealed exudative and proliferative tuberculous lesions. Mycobacterium bovis was isolated from lung lesions of 6 cases examined.