Animal TB threatens human health, doctors warn

Leading doctors and vets have cautioned that animal tuberculosis (TB), spread through contaminated food, may be a greater threat to human health than previously thought.

The disease, also known as zoonotic tuberculosis, can be more serious and more complicated to treat than conventional human TB. It is often spread through contact with raw or unpasteurised milk and can affect those in close contact with infected animals including vets, farmers and butchers.

In an interview with the BBC, Dr Francisco Olea-Popelka, from the Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, said: "This is a well-known problem and has been neglected for decades, it is a disease that is preventable, treatable and curable and yet still today we have hundreds of thousands of people suffering from it.

"Ten thousand die every year from this disease, that's a lot of cases compared to many other diseases, why not care?"

Dr Paula Fujiwara, from the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, added: "With approximately nine million individuals contracting TB globally each year, even relatively low percentages of zoonotic TB lead to large numbers of people suffering from this form of the disease."

"People living with zoonotic TB require specialised care, but in the vast majority of cases, they are not even adequately diagnosed.

“Once you get zoonotic TB it is often extrapulmonary TB, meaning it is not only in the lungs, but in other organs; that complicates the diagnosis and makes it more difficult to treat."

The news comes as the world has committed to being free of TB by 2035.

Estimates currently suggest there are around 121,000 new cases of animal TB each year.