Molecular typing for surveillance of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in the EU/EEA

​This report describes the geographical and temporal distribution of multidrug-resistant (MDR) tuberculosis (TB) using molecular typing data reported by European Union (EU)/European Economic Area (EEA) Member States for 2015 and the preceding years. 
The mycobacterial interspersed repetitive units (MIRU) - variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR) 24 loci method has become a standard tool for molecular typing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains in tuberculosis (TB) control programmes in many EU/EEA Member States.
 
A network expert group was established to support ECDC in analysing the data annually and producing a status report on the dynamics, geographic distribution and trends of MDR TB strains and clusters in Europe.
 
This second annual report focuses on strains isolated in 2015.