The problem with TB, is that its natural vector are bushy tail possums. Australia isnt TB free ( We can't test every single possum) we only assume we are, It was never fully determined where Pak boons TB came from. It was not much more then a year or so difference and chimp was infected with TB, which does not spread through the air and of memory non of tarongas staff tested positive. So how did a chimp magically get TB ?
The media story at the time was that it was a latency infection, when we discussed it during a uni trip. They were not sure whether it was true latency or whether a possum was a carrier that was on zoo grounds. Given a chimp was also infected without a known source, it's very likely a possum as the source. It's very very difficult for a person to catch TB from a possum, however it's fairly easy for species that may feed/drink out of sources where possums have had access, or share areas where they are in close proximity to them.
The approved countries for import is only a list of countries that tick the right boxes for testing etc. That can be amended, and most of Australia's elephants have been sourced from SE Asia. It can be done again if imports are needed, and it should be done. Lazy importing of easy animals with a very high level of relatedness to other elephants with in the captive zoo population should not be done. When we can put the effort in and obtain genetically valuable animals, that also help to widen the gene pool.
