Tuberculosis is a caused by a bacterium - Mycobacterium tuberculosis - and causes lung infections. Symptoms of tuberculosis include feeling weak or sick, fever, cough and night sweats. Tuberculosis can be either active or latent. Persons with active tuberculosis are sick and can spread the disease. Persons with latent tuberculosis do not show any signs but can get sick from the disease at a later time. Some forms of tuberculosis are resistant to the drugs normally used to treat the disease.

The disease is passed through the air, often by an infected person coughing. Infected animals can spread the disease by coughing or by aerosolization of any body fluids, bedding or other infected materials. The creation of aerosols when working with infected tissue is also a concern.

Primates are particularly sensitive to tuberculosis infection. The amount of bacteria needed to infect a monkey is much less than that needed to infect a human, and the disease also spreads quickly between the animals. Persons working with non-human primates need to demonstrate that they are not infected with the bacterium. TB screening is required every 6 months. This screening is usually a skin test (Mantaux). The animals are also tested on a semi annual basis.

Prevention

• Skin testing every 6 months.
• Use respiratory protection when working with non-human primates or tissues from non-human primates.
• Prevent contact of infected individuals with non-human primates.

For more information, go to www.health.state.mn.us/divs/idepc/diseases/tb/index.html