MDR M. tuberculosis, Southwestern Colombia | CDC EID

MDR M. tuberculosis, Southwestern Colombia | CDC EID: "EID Journal Home > Volume 17, Number 7–July 2011
Volume 17, Number 7–July 2011
Dispatch
Multidrug-Resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Southwestern Colombia

Beatriz E. Ferro, Comments to Author Luisa Maria Nieto, Juan C. Rozo, Liliana Forero, and Dick van Soolingen
Author affiliations: Centro Internacional de Entrenamiento e Investigaciones Médicas, Cali, Colombia (B.E. Ferro, L.M. Nieto, J.C. Rozo); Secretaría Departamental de Salud del Valle del Cauca, Cali (L. Forero); National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, the Netherlands (D. van Soolingen); and University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, the Netherlands (D. van Soolingen)

Suggested citation for this article

Abstract
Using spoligotyping, we identified 13 genotypes and 17 orphan types among 160 Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from patients in Valle del Cauca, Colombia. The Beijing genotype represented 15.6% of the isolates and was correlated with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, female sex of the patients, and residence in Buenaventura and may represent a new public health threat.

The state of Valle del Cauca in southwestern Colombia has a higher incidence of tuberculosis (TB) than the rest of the country (47 vs. 24 cases per 100,000 inhabitants per year) (1,2). One of its largest cities, Buenaventura, the main port of Colombia on the Pacific Ocean, has multidrug-resistant TB (MDR TB; resistance to at least isoniazid and rifampin) and an MDR TB rate of 6% (3).

Several genotypes of Mycobacterium tuberculosis have been reported in Colombia, but Latin American Mediterranean (LAM) and Haarlem (H) strains predominate (4,5). In Colombia, the Beijing genotype was first detected in 1998 in 11 of 111 isolates from new and previously treated patients in Buenaventura (6). Further detection of this strain has been restricted to Valle del Cauca (www.ins.gov.co/index.php?idcategoria=8304).

The Beijing genotype was originally reported in China in 1995 and is associated with higher virulence and resistance to antituberculosis drugs in many areas (7–10). Therefore, the Beijing genotype of M. tuberculosis is likely to have had a strong effect on development of the worldwide TB epidemic and the current emergence of MDR TB and extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR TB) (9).

South America has been relatively free of Beijing strains (10), and drug-resistance rates have not been extremely high in comparison with other regions. However, in this study, we report that the Beijing genotype is associated with MDR isolates in Colombia.

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Suggested Citation for this Article

Ferro BE, Nieto LM, Rozo JC, Forero L, van Soolingen D. Multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis, southwestern Colombia. Emerg Infect Dis [serial on the Internet]. 2011 Jul [date cited]. http://www.cdc.gov/EID/content/17/7/1259.htm

DOI: 10.3201/eid1707.101797

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Beatriz E. Ferro, Tuberculosis Research Area, Centro Internacional de Entrenamiento e Investigaciones Médicas, Carrera 125 No. 19-225, Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia; email: beatriz_ferro@cideim.org.co