Mycobacterium africanum--review of an important cause of human tuberculosis in West Africa.

Mycobacterium africanum consists of two phylogenetically distinct lineages within the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, known as M. africanum West African 1 and M. africanum West African 2. These lineages are restricted to West Africa, where they cause up to half of human pulmonary tuberculosis. I...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
Main Authors: Bouke C de Jong, Martin Antonio, Sebastien Gagneux
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2010
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000744
https://doaj.org/article/24fa412447bd48b4b568a1478cc4b707
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Summary:Mycobacterium africanum consists of two phylogenetically distinct lineages within the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, known as M. africanum West African 1 and M. africanum West African 2. These lineages are restricted to West Africa, where they cause up to half of human pulmonary tuberculosis. In this review we discuss the definition of M. africanum, describe the prevalence and restricted geographical distribution of M. africanum West African 1 and 2, review the occurrence of M. africanum in animals, and summarize the phenotypic differences described thus far between M. africanum and M. tuberculosis sensu stricto.