Open AccessThe transcontinental transmission of tuberculosis: A molecular epidemiological assessment.
Author(s) -
Corey Casper,
Samir P. Singh,
Sara Lucía Dominguez Rave,
Daley Cl,
Gisela Schecter,
Lee W. Riley,
Barry N. Kreiswirth,
Peter M. Small
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
american journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.284
H-Index - 264
eISSN - 1541-0048
pISSN - 0090-0036
DOI - 10.2105/ajph.86.4.551
Subject(s) - tuberculosis , transmission (telecommunications) , outbreak , mycobacterium tuberculosis , epidemiology , molecular epidemiology , environmental health , medicine , geography , virology , biology , pathology , computer science , genetics , genotype , telecommunications , gene
Many tuberculosis control activities are based on principles learned from studies of tuberculosis transmission. To date, these have largely been limited to outbreak investigations in confined geographical regions. In this report conventional and computerized DNA fingerprint- based approaches were integrated to demonstrate that the most widely prevalent strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from New York City was cultured from only 1 of 755 patients in San Francisco, Calif, who was a traveling salesman. Large-scale molecular epidemiologic studies may provide a better understanding of the dynamics of tuberculosis transmission between geographic regions and suggest rational measures to interrupt such transmission.