Vertical Transmission of Pneumocystis jirovecii in Humans

If at least 1 sample was positive for M. bovis, the prevalence of bovine TB among patients would be >4.2%. However, the prevalence of M. bovis was <4.2% and confi rmed the lowlevel involvement of M. bovis in human TB in Mbarara district. These fi ndings are consistent with previous work in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, and in other African or Asian countries (2,8,9). The estimation of extrapulmonary cases among all TB cases (95% confi dence interval 2%–15.2%) did not differ from the offi cial estimate. We can add, using the second formula shown above, that among the 6 extrapulmonary TB cases, the prevalence of M. bovis is <39.3%. Our results come from a population in a highly rural area (91.5% of the population in Mbarara district) (7), where the high prevalence of animal TB has been reported. These results could be explained by the patients’ consumption habits, which reduce the risk for contamination. Even if bovine TB could also be found in other farm or wild animals, it seems to have a minor effect on public health. Zoonotic TB appeared to not be a major public health problem in Mbarara district. However, this fi nding could also result from underdiagnosis of extrapulmonary TB, from prevalence of M. tuberculosis being so high that in proportion M. bovis is a minor problem, or from rural populations’ diffi cult access to TB diagnosis (directly observed therapy case detection rate in Uganda in 2005 was 37%) (1). Acknowledgments We thank the Mbarara University of Science and Technology, the staff of Mbarara University Teaching Hospital, the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Programme, and the French Embassy in Uganda.