The problem of resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis may be underestimated in Africa.

Background: The true burden of tuberculosis (TB) and particularly multidrug-resistant (MDR) TB in Sub-Saharan Africa has remained underestimated. Methods: We investigated drug susceptibility profile and genetic diversity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates collected from confirmed tuberculosis patients in Ibadan, southwestern Nigeria. Results: We confirmed that from 74 randomly selected Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates available for drug susceptibility testing in Ibadan, in 2011, 13.5% of them were MDR-TB. Conclusions: This figure is obviously above the national and World Health Organization figures.