They also demonstrate that two multidrug resistant (MDR) clones of this lineage started to spread concomitantly with the collapse of the public health system in the former Soviet Union, thus highlighting the need to sustain efforts to control tuberculosis. Finally, this work has made it possible to identify new potential targets for the treatment and diagnosis of this disease. This study was carried out by scientists at the Centre d'Infection et d'Immunité de Lille (CNRS/Institut Pasteur de Lille/Inserm/Université de Lille) and the Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité (CNRS/Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle/UPMC/EPHE), working in collaboration with a large international consortium1. Its findings were published on 19 January in Nature Genetics.
Notes:
1Consortium also led by the Borstel Research Center (Germany).
References:
Evolutionary history and global spread of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis Beijing lineage,
M. Merker et al., Nature Genetics, 19 January 2015
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M. Merker et al., Nature Genetics, 19 January 2015
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