Serodiagnosis of tuberculosis in Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in Southern India: a latent class analysis.
BACKGROUND: Mycobacterium tuberculosis, a causative agent of chronic tuberculosis disease, is widespread among some animal species too. There is paucity of information on the distribution, prevalence and true disease status of tuberculosis in Asian elephants (Elephas maximus). The aim of this study...
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2012-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3500311?pdf=render |
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| author | Shalu Verma-Kumar David Abraham Nandini Dendukuri Jacob Varghese Cheeran Raman Sukumar Kithiganahalli Narayanaswamy Balaji |
| author_facet | Shalu Verma-Kumar David Abraham Nandini Dendukuri Jacob Varghese Cheeran Raman Sukumar Kithiganahalli Narayanaswamy Balaji |
| author_sort | Shalu Verma-Kumar |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | BACKGROUND: Mycobacterium tuberculosis, a causative agent of chronic tuberculosis disease, is widespread among some animal species too. There is paucity of information on the distribution, prevalence and true disease status of tuberculosis in Asian elephants (Elephas maximus). The aim of this study was to estimate the sensitivity and specificity of serological tests to diagnose M. tuberculosis infection in captive elephants in southern India while simultaneously estimating sero-prevalence. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Health assessment of 600 elephants was carried out and their sera screened with a commercially available rapid serum test. Trunk wash culture of select rapid serum test positive animals yielded no animal positive for M. tuberculosis isolation. Under Indian field conditions where the true disease status is unknown, we used a latent class model to estimate the diagnostic characteristics of an existing (rapid serum test) and new (four in-house ELISA) tests. One hundred and seventy nine sera were randomly selected for screening in the five tests. Diagnostic sensitivities of the four ELISAs were 91.3-97.6% (95% Credible Interval (CI): 74.8-99.9) and diagnostic specificity were 89.6-98.5% (95% CI: 79.4-99.9) based on the model we assumed. We estimate that 53.6% (95% CI: 44.6-62.8) of the samples tested were free from infection with M. tuberculosis and 15.9% (97.5% CI: 9.8 - to 24.0) tested positive on all five tests. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results provide evidence for high prevalence of asymptomatic M. tuberculosis infection in Asian elephants in a captive Indian setting. Further validation of these tests would be important in formulating area-specific effective surveillance and control measures. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T18:41:53Z |
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| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T18:41:53Z |
| publishDate | 2012-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
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| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-ae8d25bc58054a2c83d3d31917b557342022-12-22T00:54:36ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032012-01-01711e4954810.1371/journal.pone.0049548Serodiagnosis of tuberculosis in Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in Southern India: a latent class analysis.Shalu Verma-KumarDavid AbrahamNandini DendukuriJacob Varghese CheeranRaman SukumarKithiganahalli Narayanaswamy BalajiBACKGROUND: Mycobacterium tuberculosis, a causative agent of chronic tuberculosis disease, is widespread among some animal species too. There is paucity of information on the distribution, prevalence and true disease status of tuberculosis in Asian elephants (Elephas maximus). The aim of this study was to estimate the sensitivity and specificity of serological tests to diagnose M. tuberculosis infection in captive elephants in southern India while simultaneously estimating sero-prevalence. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Health assessment of 600 elephants was carried out and their sera screened with a commercially available rapid serum test. Trunk wash culture of select rapid serum test positive animals yielded no animal positive for M. tuberculosis isolation. Under Indian field conditions where the true disease status is unknown, we used a latent class model to estimate the diagnostic characteristics of an existing (rapid serum test) and new (four in-house ELISA) tests. One hundred and seventy nine sera were randomly selected for screening in the five tests. Diagnostic sensitivities of the four ELISAs were 91.3-97.6% (95% Credible Interval (CI): 74.8-99.9) and diagnostic specificity were 89.6-98.5% (95% CI: 79.4-99.9) based on the model we assumed. We estimate that 53.6% (95% CI: 44.6-62.8) of the samples tested were free from infection with M. tuberculosis and 15.9% (97.5% CI: 9.8 - to 24.0) tested positive on all five tests. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results provide evidence for high prevalence of asymptomatic M. tuberculosis infection in Asian elephants in a captive Indian setting. Further validation of these tests would be important in formulating area-specific effective surveillance and control measures.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3500311?pdf=render |
| spellingShingle | Shalu Verma-Kumar David Abraham Nandini Dendukuri Jacob Varghese Cheeran Raman Sukumar Kithiganahalli Narayanaswamy Balaji Serodiagnosis of tuberculosis in Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in Southern India: a latent class analysis. PLoS ONE |
| title | Serodiagnosis of tuberculosis in Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in Southern India: a latent class analysis. |
| title_full | Serodiagnosis of tuberculosis in Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in Southern India: a latent class analysis. |
| title_fullStr | Serodiagnosis of tuberculosis in Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in Southern India: a latent class analysis. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Serodiagnosis of tuberculosis in Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in Southern India: a latent class analysis. |
| title_short | Serodiagnosis of tuberculosis in Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in Southern India: a latent class analysis. |
| title_sort | serodiagnosis of tuberculosis in asian elephants elephas maximus in southern india a latent class analysis |
| url | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3500311?pdf=render |
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