Cross-jurisdictional transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Maryland and Washington, D C, 1996-2000, linked to the homeless.
From 1996 to 2000, 23 Maryland and Washington, D.C., tuberculosis cases were identified in one six-band DNA cluster. Cases were clustered on the basis of their Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates. Medical record reviews and interviews were conducted to identify epidemiologic linkages. Eighteen (78%) of the 23 case-patients with identical restriction fragment length polymorphism patterns were linked to another member; half the patients were associated with a Washington, D.C., homeless shelter. Molecular epidemiology defined the extent of this large, cross-jurisdictional outbreak.
Lathan
Monica
M
Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, USA.
Mukasa
Leonard Ntaate
LN
Hooper
Nancy
N
Golub
Jonathan
J
Baruch
Nancy
N
Mulcahy
Donna
D
Benjamin
William
W
Cronin
Wendy A
WA
D000328:Adult; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D004219:District of Columbia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006703:Ill-Housed Persons; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008396:Maryland / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D012307:Risk Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000635:transmission*