Tuberculosis Risk

An outbreak of a human strain of tuberculosis (TB), called Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is infecting and killing captive elephants in the United States. Since 1996, this highly contagious bacterial lung disease has been diagnosed in at least 18 elephants in circuses, including Ringling and Shrine circuses, and several zoos. The number of elephants harboring TB is unknown. Six elephants have died and several elephant handlers have tested positive for the disease.

Among the first elephants to die were Joyce and Hattie. Both had contact with the public and were forced to perform with Circus Vargas up until their deaths. When Joyce died in August 1996, she was depressed, lethargic, pale, and emaciated, and 80 percent of her lung tissue had been destroyed by TB. Hattie died a few days later, alone in the back of a trailer as she was being hauled back to Illinois from California. The elephants belonged to an elephant “rental” company called Hawthorn Corporation, owned by Illinois millionaire John Cuneo. Hawthorn’s entire herd of 18 elephants was later quarantined for TB treatment.

Click here for tuberculosis-related incidents in captive elephants.

Risk to Circusgoers
Tuberculosis remains one of the deadliest diseases in the world. In 2001, nearly 16,000 human cases were reported in the United States. TB is airborne and spreads through tiny droplets in the air. According to Dr. John Lewis of the International Zoo Veterinary Group, “If tuberculosis is diagnosed in an elephant, there are clear public health implications as the disease can be spread by close contact with infected animals and people.” Circuses routinely allow members of the public to feed, pet, and ride elephants. Babies, young children, and the elderly are especially at risk because they often have weak immune systems.

Infected elephants may exhibit no symptoms of TB or may suffer from chronic weight loss, diminished appetite, chronic nasal discharge, coughing, and intolerance to exercise. Symptoms in people include coughing, chest pain, coughing up blood, fatigue, weight loss, decreased appetite, chills, fever, and night sweats. Latent tuberculosis produces no symptoms.

TB Tests Unreliable
In people, TB can be detected through a skin test, sputum culture, and chest x-ray. The disease is far more difficult to identify in elephants. Elephants are too large to be x-rayed, skin tests are notoriously inaccurate, and trunk wash cultures only indicate whether the elephant has active TB. No test can determine if an elephant is harboring a TB infection. Circuses may also intentionally mislabel trunk wash specimens from infected animals, using a TB-negative animal as the donor.

According to an article on Salon.com, a private investigator who handled security for Ringling stated in a deposition, “[A]bout half of the elephants in each of [Ringling’s] shows had tuberculosis and … [it] was an easily transmitted disease to individuals, to human beings. … I was asked … to find a physician who would test the people [in] the circus to see if they had tuberculosis but who would destroy the records and not turn them [in to] the Centers for Disease Control.” Ringling’s so-called retirement center in Williston, Fla., has been under quarantine by the Florida State Health Department because of TB since December 1998.

Treating elephants for this deadly illness is both difficult and costly. TB treatment for an elephant, which does not cure TB, costs about $50,000 per animal and is recommended for at least a year. Some circuses may prefer to keep sick elephants working until they die, rather than invest in diseased elephants who may never get well.

Cuneo threatened to kill his elephants if the USDA imposed a lengthy quarantine that would prevent his elephants from traveling and performing. In a letter to the USDA dated November 22, 1996, Cuneo wrote, “[I]f someone cannot work out a better protocol than you have outlined, arrangements will have to be made for disposing of the elephants as I cannot afford to keep them forever with no possibility of their touring.”

Agencies fail to control outbreak
Elephants used in circuses are especially susceptible because their immune systems are weakened by the constant stress of beatings, confinement, and travel. The crowded, humid, unventilated boxcars, trailers, and warehouses in which captive elephants are often kept create a fertile breeding ground for TB. They are transported around the country and commingled with other elephants, spreading the disease.

The circus industry and the agencies that regulate it have been far from vigilant about protecting animals and circusgoers. Despite annual testing of elephants and handlers, required by the USDA since 1998, diseased and TB-exposed elephants still interact with the public.

On July 13, 2002, three elephants with the Missouri-based Tarzan Zerbini Circus were quarantined and deported from Canada after the USDA alerted Canadian authorities that the elephants had been in prolonged contact with another TB-positive elephant. The elephants had been performing for Shrine Circuses and giving rides to children. In April 2000, a few months after performing at the South Florida Fair, with record attendance of nearly 713,000 people, and the Florida State Fair, a Royal Hanneford elephant tested positive for tuberculosis.

What You Can Do
Start a campaign to ban circuses in your town. Inform your local health department officials of tuberculosis risks and ask for their support. Obtain a free "Circus Ordinance Pack" from PETA.

Back to Top