The Relevance of Genomic Epidemiology for Control of Tuberculosis in West Africa

Frontiers in Public Health

article

Prince Asare¹  Stephen Osei-Wusu¹  Isaac Darko Otchere¹  Dorothy Yeboah-Manu¹ 

[1] College of Health Sciences, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana

关键词: genomic epidemiology;    tuberculosis;    West Africa;    Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex;    Mycobacterium africanum;    tuberculosis control;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpubh.2021.706651

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Tuberculosis (TB), an airborne infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC), remains a global health problem. West Africa has a unique epidemiology of TB that is characterized by medium- to high-prevalence. Moreover, the geographical restriction of M. africanum to the sub-region makes West Africa have an extra burden to deal with a two-in-one pathogen. The region is also burdened with low case detection, late reporting, poor treatment adherence leading to development of drug resistance and relapse. Sporadic studies conducted within the subregion report higher burden of drug resistant TB (DRTB) than previously thought. The need for more sensitive and robust tools for routine surveillance as well as to understand the mechanisms of DRTB and transmission dynamics for the design of effective control tools, cannot be overemphasized. The advancement in molecular biology tools including traditional fingerprinting and next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies offer reliable tools for genomic epidemiology. Genomic epidemiology provides in-depth insight of the nature of pathogens, circulating strains and their spread as well as prompt detection of the emergence of new strains. It also offers the opportunity to monitor treatment and evaluate interventions. Furthermore, genomic epidemiology can be used to understand potential emergence and spread of drug resistant strains and resistance mechanisms allowing the design of simple but rapid tools. In this review, we will describe the local epidemiology of MTBC, highlight past and current investigations toward understanding their biology and spread as well as discuss the relevance of genomic epidemiology studies to TB control in West Africa.

【 授权许可】

CC BY