Metagenomics of Imported Multidrug-Resistant Mycobacterium leprae, Saudi Arabia, 2017

Abstract

Using shotgun metagenomics, we identified an imported case of multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium leprae in a Filipino resident of Saudi Arabia in 2017. We determined the phylogenomic lineage (3K1) and identified mutations in rpoB and rrs corresponding to the multidrug-resistance phenotype clinically observed. Metagenomics sequencing can be used to identify multidrug-resistant M. leprae.

Keywords

• Mycobacterium leprae
• metagenomics
• drug resistance
• imported infectious diseases
• tuberculosis and other mycobacteria
• rpoB