article_snippet: Just days before the announcement, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) prevailed in an open-records request and obtained documents proving that, at least since 2010, Ringling has had elephants test positive for the human strain of tuberculosis (TB).
article_snippet: TB is highly transmissible from elephants to humans, even without direct contact.
article_snippet: Elephants with least since 2010, Ringling has had elephants test positive for the human strain of tuberculosis (TB) appear in front of the Capitol in Washington in 2013.
article_snippet: PETA says the company's move to retire the company elephants heads off a scandal about the animals having TB while touring .
article_snippet: As many as one-third of its elephants having tested positive for tuberculosis, and several Ringling employees have been treated for tuberculosis .
article_snippet: As many as one-third of its elephants having tested positive for tuberculosis, and several Ringling employees have been treated for TB.
article_snippet: TB carried by an elephant was linked to an outbreak among eight humans at an elephant sanctuary, some of whom had no direct contact with an elephant.
article_snippet: PETA said The documents obtained by PETA also show that Ringling consistently opposed efforts by officials to improve testing requirements for TB in elephants.
highlights_snippet: However PETA obtained documents that say many elephants were infected with the human strain of tuberculosis but remained on tour .
  
highlights_snippet: TB is highly transmissible from elephants to humans, even without direct contact, and there are calls for elephants immediate retirement .
  