Mycobacterium africanum is not a major cause of human tuberculosis in Cape Town, South Africa.

While Mycobacterium africanum is an important cause of TB in several sites in West Africa, its distribution in other African countries is not well documented. In this study, conducted in Cape Town, 1175 isolates yielded 110 unique RFLP patterns; one of each of these 110 strains was tested for genomic deletions characteristic of M. africanum and other atypical members of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. As none of these strains was marked by the deletion of RD9, we conclude that M. africanum and other atypical members of the M. tuberculosis complex are decidedly uncommon in this part of Africa.