Tuberculosis (TB) is a major global public health problem resulting in a considerable morbidity and mortality worldwide. Ethiopia ranks 8th among the 22 high TB burden countries. Establishing an appropriate and improved intervention strategy to prevent and control tuberculosis requires the presence of evidence based data on the genetic diversity of its causative agent. The current research work, therefore, was to differentiate strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolated from pulmonary tuberculosis patients who own cattle in North Eastern and North Western parts of Ethiopia using molecular techniques. Sputum samples were collected from Acid Fast Bacilli (AFB) positive pulmonary tuberculosis patients and cultured on Lowenstein-Jensen (LJ) medium containing glycerol and sodium pyruvate. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) was extracted from each positive culture, spoligotyping and single nucleotide polymorphisms were performed to further differentiate strains of M. tuberculosis, after deletion typing PCR confirmed that all the isolates were Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The mean age of study participants was 35.7 years (18-63 years) + 13.24. The majority (55.7%) were from North Gondar zone. Spoligotyping revealed that (47/50) 94% had interpretable patterns and 3 lineages namely; East-Africa-Indian (57.4%), Euro-American-African (EAA lineage- Lineage 4) 38.3% and Ethiopian (lineage-7) 2/50 (4.3%). Lineage 7 was registered in North Wollo zone only. In this study 8 clusters (with cluster size ranging from 2-8), 8 unique and 10 new patters were recorded. Spoligotype International Types (SIT) (21, 25, 26, 35, 53, 109, 149 and 289) was found as clusters and of this SIT 25 (7) and SIT 289 (8) were the predominant ones. Our study proved that 3 Mycobacterium tuberculosis lineages, namely; the ancient, intermediate between the modern lineages as well as modern were identified. Besides, considerable clustering was seen, which indicates the presence of current TB transmission in the study areas.

Tuberculosis is a worldwide problem with a considerable morbidity and mortality per annum. The disease is curable and early diagnosis and chemotherapy is very essential. Despite completing the recommended course of therapy and clearance from the disease causing agent the clinical signs persist in TB patients. The current study aimed to assess the possible claims of persistent signs which are either resulted from the drug side effects or the disease itself by the TB patients. A cross-sectional study design conducted on volunteer pulmonary tuberculosis patients. The variables included were those signs which are used to diagnose tuberculosis. Closed questionnaire with YES or NO answer was used. The current study revealed that three fourth of the treated TB patients claimed the presence of either one or more signs, while one fourth reported free from any signs which they knew before anti-TB treatment. Extra pulmonary tuberculosis (in fact it cloud be new infection) was observed on 7.1% (2/28) of the participants.
It is concluded that persistent of clinical signs after completing TB treatment courses is noteworthy. Prolonging recovery time would affect productivity. Despite the limitations the information generated suggested further study to clear out the mere cause/s of the clinical signs.