Ali Akbar Velayati1, Parissa Farnia2, Mohammad Reza Masjedi3. 1. Mycobacteriology Research Centre, National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (NRITLD) and WHO Collaborating Centre, Masih Daneshvari Hospital , Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.; Clinical Tuberculosis and Epidemiology Research Centre, NRITLD, Masih Daneshvari Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. 2. Mycobacteriology Research Centre, National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (NRITLD) and WHO Collaborating Centre, Masih Daneshvari Hospital , Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.; The Republican Research and Practical Centre for Epidemiology and Microbiology, Filimonova 23, Minsk, Belarus. Electronic address: pfarnia@theaasm.org. 3. Chronic Respiratory Diseases Research Center, NRITLD, Masih Daneshvari Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.