Mycobacterium tuberculosis genomic diversity in Ethiopia. MTB in Ethiopia

Recent publications have highlighted the diversity of the tuberculosis bacillus in Ethiopia. However a deep genomic sampling of this diversity has not been done before. We reasoned that by rationally choosing a collection of strains representing common and rare strain types in Ethiopia we could at the same time describe the genomic diversity of the bacteria in the region and help to distinguish between competing models of the timing and origin of the MTBC. Competing models agree to point Africa as the ancient origin of the disease. This contradicts the "virgin soil" observations in the last two centuries showing higher mortality and incident rates of tuberculosis in Africa due to European contact. Our data suggests that tuberculosis was already in Ethiopia but that recent introduction of more virulent strains may account for the "virgin soil" observations.