Evaluation of comparative cervical tuberculin skin testing in cervids naturally exposed to mycobacteria

A comparative cervical tuberculin skin test was evaluated in cervids with naturally acquired mycobacterial infections. The test exhibited a high degree of sensitivity (84%) and specificity (80%) in detecting infected animals but a low level of accuracy (57%) in differentiating Mycobacterium bovis infections from infections caused by M avium and other Runyon groups III and IV mycobacteria. This phenomenon was attributed to a low recovery rate of more than 1 species of mycobacteria from individuals with mixed infections.