CHAPTER 34 MYCOBACTERIAL INFECTIONS 517
Zoonotic Potential
Tuberculosis: affected domestic pets are potentially serious zoonotic threats to own-
ers; public health authorities should be notified of any antemortem or postmortem
diagnosis (may be required by law); do not attempt treatment without agreement of
public health authorities.M. tuberculosis: greatest potential for zoonosis, especially with draining cutaneous
lesions.
Disease transmission from dogs and cats to humans: very rarely recorded; in recent
outbreaks of tuberculosis in cats, no such case was documented.
Clinicians aware of human tuberculosis in the household with dogs and cats should
counsel owners about the risk of reverse zoonosis.
Fig. 34.1.Eroded and inflamed lesions of canine leproid granuloma on the pinna of a 1-year-old male-
castrate boxer. Lesions were nonpainful.