Prevalence of pulmonary TB and spoligotype pattern of Mycobacterium tuberculosis among TB suspects in a rural community in Southwest Ethiopia

Background In Ethiopia where there is no strong surveillance system and state of the art diagnostic facilities are limited, the real burden of tuberculosis (TB) is not well known. We conducted a community based survey to estimate the prevalence of pulmonary TB and spoligotype pattern of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates in Southwest Ethiopia.