Probable long-term prevalence for a predominant Mycobacterium tuberculosis clone of a Beijing genotype in Colon, Panama

Abstract

Beijing genotype Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains associate with increased virulence, resistance, and/or higher transmission rates. This study describes a specific Beijing strain predominantly identified in the Panamanian province of Colon with one of the highest incidence of tuberculosis in the country. Retrospective Mycobacterial Interspersed Repetitive-Unit/Variable-Number of Tandem Repeats analysis of 42 isolates collected between January-August 2018, allowed to identify a cluster (Beijing A) with 17 (40.5%) Beijing isolates. Subsequent prospective strain-specific PCR based surveillance from September 2019 to March 2020, confirmed the predominance of the Beijing A strain (44.1%) in this province. Whole genome sequencing revealed higher-thanexpected diversity within the cluster, suggesting long-term prevalence of this strain and low number of cases caused by recent transmission. The Beijing A strain belongs to the Asian African 3 (Bmyc13, L2.2.5) branch of the modern Beijing sublineage, with their closest isolates corresponding to cases from Vietnam, probably introduced in Panama between 2000 and 2012.

The critically endangered Amphibians from the small Escudo de Veraguas Island Panama

“…En nuestro estudio pudimos destacar la presencia de tres cepas correspondiente al genotipo Beijing (figura 1), que representó el 3.5 % del total de las muestras analizadas (n: 85). Aunque esta cifra es baja en comparación con la provincia de Colón, donde el genotipo Beijing llega a representar hasta el 44.1 % de los casos de tuberculosis (Acosta et. al 2020).…”