Comparison of the socio-demographic and clinical features of pulmonary TB patients infected with sub-lineages within the W-Beijing and non-Beijing Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Sublineage 181 might have the capacity to spread throughout the general community in rural China. This is the first report on the extensive association of sub-lineage 181 with MDR TB and possibly pre-XDR TB and XDR TB. It is important to monitor sublineage 181 to verify its heightened transmission and understand its importance in the global MDR-TB and XDR-TB epidemics.