Study provides new evidence on role of person-to person transmission in drug-resistant TB

A study published today in The New England Journal of Medicine provides compelling evidence that extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) is spread from person-to-person in the KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa from 2011-2014. The study was conducted by a team of researchers from Emory University, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa and was funded by the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health. It builds on a growing body of evidence showing that person-to-person transmission, not just inadequate treatment, is driving the spread of drug-resistant TB.