Spoligotyping and IS6110-RFLP typing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from French Guiana: a comparison of results with international databases underlines interregional transmission from neighboring countries.

In this investigation, 94 clinical isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis obtained over a 3-year period (1996-1998) from French Guiana were characterized by spoligotyping and IS6110-RFLP and the patterns obtained were compared with genotypes representing the worldwide diversity in an international spoligotyping database (n = 4269) and a IS6110-RFLP database (n = 4189). All the clustered isolates giving < or = 6 copies of IS6110 were further typed using the double-repetitive element (DRE)-PCR. The results obtained underlined the highly diverse nature of the M. tuberculosis population in French Guiana with potential links to neighboring countries within the Americas. It may be hypothesized that the genetic heterogeneity of tubercle bacilli in French Guiana is linked to the high number of imported cases of tuberculosis, that may account for as high as 68% of all tuberculosis cases. Although an epidemiological investigation based on direct interrogation of patients was not performed, available medical records suggested that the clustering of isolates was mostly linked to the following risk factors: pulmonary tuberculosis, smear-positive samples, foreign-born nationals and/or immigrants, and a high rate of HIV-TB coinfection. Thus the persisting foci of endemic disease and increased active transmission due to high population flux and HIV coinfection may be largely responsible for the relatively high incidence of tuberculosis in French Guiana.