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can pose health hazards to animals and human beings.6 Since infected animals are potentially capable of infecting human beings with tuberculosis (TB), the differential identification of M. tuberculosis and M. bovis is important.1 Although M. bovis infections typically occur in cattle, infections have also been reported in human beings.7,13 Presently, there is limited data regarding the prevalence of M. tuberculosis and M. bovis in cattle and the possible zoonotic importance of bovine tuber-culosis in Asia. Currently, although laboratory diagnoses of Mycobacter-ium infections are made primarily using smear tests and cul-turing, the sensitivity of such tests is low and results may vary depending on the examiner. Culturing and biochemical tests can take 4–8 weeks and sometimes fail to provide precise iden-tification. A diagnosis can also be made with immunologica