The variable numbers of tandem repeats (VNTR) analysis is a method frequently employed as a molecular epidemiological tool for Mycobacterium tuberculosis genetic fingerprinting. In this study, we characterized the population of M. tuberculosis circulating in Mie Prefecture, Japan, and assessed the utility of the proposed JATA12- and 15-VNTR analyses of 158 M. tuberculosis clinical isolates ...

To the Editor: Molecular typing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains isolated in several countries in recent years has shown that a group of strains known as " Beijing " is widespread around the world (1). The Beijing group of M. tuberculosis has been associated with drug resistance; one multidrug-resistant strain, designated " W, " was found in New York City in the early 1990s and caused larg...

Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in dogs is rarely reported and has not previously been documented in South Africa. A case of a stray Maltese crossbreed dog with extensive multifocal pulmonary tuberculosis due to M. tuberculosis is described. Pulmonary granulomas in this case were poorly encapsulated and contained large numbers of acid-fast bacteria, highlighting the potential for infected ...

BACKGROUND Mycobacterium tuberculosis Uganda family is the predominant cause of tuberculosis in Uganda. Reasons for this are not clear but are likely to be due to the rampant person-to-person transmission or delayed susceptibility of the organism to drugs during treatment, which may lead to continuous shedding of infectious bacilli, among others. The objective of this study was to determine in ...

BACKGROUND As a species, Mycobacterium tuberculosis is more diverse than previously thought. In particular, the Beijing family of M. tuberculosis strains is spreading and evaluating throughout the world and this is giving rise to public health concerns. Genetic diversity within this family has recently been delineated further and a specific genotype, called Bmyc10, has been shown to represent o...

INTRODUCTION Central Asian Strain 1 (CAS1) is the predominant Mycobacterium tuberculosis genotype in Pakistan. The occurrence of deletions in regions of differences (RDs) among CAS1 and other predominant genogroups in the country were investigated. METHODOLOGY Using stratified random sampling, 235 M. tuberculosis (185 pulmonary; 50 extrapulmonary) strains were selected from 926 previously spo...

Background Tuberculosis remains the leading cause of death in the world, especially wherever poverty, malnutrition and poor housing prevail. Mycobacterium tuberculosis Beijing strain is the most common strain that causes tuberculosis in Indonesia. The wide spread of tuberculosis has been further aggravated by HIV-AIDS and drug resistance. Unfortunately, Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) as the curr...

From June to July 1999 an outbreak of acute respiratory illness occurred in the town of Iporanga. Out of a total of 4,837 inhabitants, 324 cases were notified to the Regional Surveillance Service. Influenza virus was isolated from 57.1% of the collected samples and 100% seroconversion to influenza A (H1N1) was obtained in 20 paired sera tested. The isolates were related to the A/Bayern/07/95 st...

Mycobacterium tuberculosis Beijing genotype originated in China and has undergone a dramatic population growth and global spread in the last century. Here, a collection of M. tuberculosis Beijing family isolates from different provinces across all China was genotyped by high-resolution (24-MIRU-VNTR) and low-resolution, high-rank (modern and ancient sublineages) markers. The molecular profiles ...