*Corresponding author: Mailing address: Division of Bacteriology, Chiba Prefectural Institute of Public Health, 666-2 Nitona, Chuo, Chiba, Chiba 260-8715, Japan. Tel: +81-43-266-6723, Fax: +81-43-265-5544, E-mail: e.ykym@ma.pref.chiba.lg.jp Tuberculosis is one of the major bacterial diseases in Japan (1). Advances in the molecular epidemiological analysis of this disease have greatly improved t...