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Page No. : 49-56

ABSTRACT

Zoonotic tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious and contagious disease caused by various strains of Mycobacterium particularly Mycobacterium bovis and Mycobacterium caprae worldwide. In an estimate, 2 billion persons or approximately one-third of the world’s population are infected with contagious tuberculus bacillus among which 95 percent of cases occur in people of developing countries. However, it is estimated that only 10–12% of infections result in overt disease. M. bovis zoonotic transmission is responsible for 10-15% of new human tuberculosis cases in developing countries and about 1-2% of cases in developed countries; prior to pasteurization, bovine TB was responsible for 25% of all TB cases in children, and the condition is exacerbated in immunocompromised patients. The loss of cattle due to bovine tuberculosis costs the world $3 billion. However, current ongoing researches have confirmed that TB detection via targeting disease biomarker and the development of new and cheaper tools for biomolecular recognition may circumvent the current limitations of diagnostic methods used in the global fight against TB.

Keywords: Diagnosis, mycobacterium, tuberculosis, zoonotic tuberculosis