Predominance of Central Asian strain (ST 26) in Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from Balochistan by spoligotyping.
INTRODUCTION
Tuberculosis is a chronic debilitating infectious disease causing a severe challenge to public health, especially in developing countries. The aim of this study was to examine genetic diversity in Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains circulating in the Balochistan region of Pakistan.


METHODOLOGY
One hundred isolates collected from patients visiting the Fatima Jinnah TB Hospital in Quetta were subjected to genotype analysis by spoligotyping.


RESULTS
Three main genotypes were identified: Central Asian Strain 1 (CAS1) (n = 89), East African Indian (EAI) strain (n = 7) and Latin American Mediterranean (LAM) strain (n = 3). The CAS1 clade (ST 26) had high genetic diversity represented by seven different spoligopatterns, of which one had major predominace (n = 75).


CONCLUSIONS
This is the first insight into the genotype of M. tuberculosis strains in the Balochistan region that might serve as a base line study for control of tuberculosis in the community.
['Shafee|Muhammad|M|', 'Abbas|Ferhat|F|', 'Tanveer|Zunera|Z|', 'Whitelaw|Andrew|A|', 'Tow|Lemese Ah|LA|', 'Ashraf|Muhammad|M|', 'Ahmad|Irshad|I|', 'Patching|Simon G|SG|', 'Jabbar|Abdul|A|', 'Akbar|Ali|A|', 'Mustafa|Mohammad Zahid|MZ|']
D000328:Adult D000368:Aged D000369:Aged, 80 and over D005260:Female D014644:Genetic Variation D005838:Genotype D060005:Genotyping Techniques D006801:Humans D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D017720:Molecular Epidemiology D058889:Molecular Typing D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis D010154:Pakistan D014376:Tuberculosis D055815:Young Adult
Central Asian Strain Mycobacterium tuberculosis Pakistan Genotyping Spogliotyping