Identification of Aetiology of TB-Like Illnesses at KEMRI Wellcome Trust Research Programme (KWTRP)

Identification of aetiology of TB-like illnesses for effective TB management and reduction of poor treatment outcomes due to untreated conditions

• In addition to TB caused by Mycobacteria tuberculosis, recent epidemiological studies have shown the emergence of Non-Tuberculous Mycobacteria species (NTMs) causing lung disease in humans (Gopalaswamy et al., 2020). 
• Several NTMs may cause pulmonary diseases, contributing to substantial morbidity and mortality (Gopalaswamy et al., 2020; Hoza et al., 2016). The clinical presentation of NTM disease is quite similar to TB, but NTMs often go undetected or are considered irrelevant clinically (Hoza et al., 2016; Hoang et al., 2021).