Abstract
To investigate transmission of drug-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Tunisia, we performed whole-genome sequencing on 46 multidrug-resistant strains isolated during 2012–2016. Core-genome multilocus sequence typing grouped 30 strains (65.2%) into 3 clusters, indicating extensive recent transmission and Haarlem clone predominance. Whole-genome sequencing might help public health services undertake appropriate control actions.
Highlights
We used Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) to investigate transmission of MDR and extensively drug resistant (XDR) TB strains isolated in Tunisia over a 4-year period by applying the core-genome multilocus sequence typing
The Study We retrospectively studied 46 MDR M. tuberculosis isolates collected from 46 HIV-negative patients in Tunisia during June 2012–June 2016, which represented 57 (80.7%) cases of MDR TB
Conclusions core-genome multilocus sequence typing (cgMLST) analysis showed that 65.2% of MDR/XDR strains of M. tuberculosis were clustered, reflecting extensive transmission in Tunisia, of a Haarlem clone
Summary
We used WGS to investigate transmission of MDR and extensively drug resistant (XDR) TB strains isolated in Tunisia over a 4-year period by applying the core-genome multilocus sequence typing (cgMLST) All cluster 1 strains shared mutations in drug-resistance genes
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