Tuberculosis caused by Mycobacterium orygis in wild ungulates in Chennai, South India.

We report the isolation of Mycobacterium orygis, a member of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC), from two black bucks (Antelope cervicapra) and one spotted deer (Axis axis) from the Guindy National Park forest range in Chennai, India. Lung tissue and lymph node samples collected during post-mortem examination were processed using NaOH method and cultured in solid and liquid media. DNA extracted from the cultured isolates was used to amplify the mpt64 gene by specific primers and the band visualized at 240 bps confirmed the isolates as a member of MTBC.