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Zoonotic tuberculosis (zTB) — human infection from a Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) species with an animal reservoir — is poorly monitored. Although M. bovis (which originates in cattle) has been most frequently identified, other species may be more prevalent than previously recognized. To explore this question, researchers performed a retrospective cohort study of persons infected with animal-lineage MTBC in Alberta, Canada, between 1995 and 2021.
Among the 42 identified cases of zTB, 20 were infected with M. bovis, 21 with M. orygis, and 1 with M. caprae, compared with 3357 patients who were infected with M. tuberculosis. While the number of cases due to M. bovis remained stable over time, cases due to M. orygis increased marked…