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Article: New threat in South Africa: drug-resistant tuberculosis strain.
- Article from:
- Chicago Tribune (Chicago, IL)
- Article date:
- September 22, 2006
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Chicago Tribune. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Laurie Goering
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa _ A new form of severely drug-resistant tuberculosis that has killed 60 of 63 infected patients at one rural hospital in South Africa has quietly gained a foothold in southern Africa, a dramatic new threat to millions of Africans with immune systems already compromised by HIV infection, doctors and researchers say.
Cases of the new strain of tuberculosis, or XDR-TB, have been identified in Mozambique, Swaziland and Lesotho as well as in South Africa's Eastern Cape province, Johannesburg and in 29 hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal province, the region of South Africa hardest hit by the strain and AIDS, according ...