High-throughput mycobacterial interspersed repetitive-unit-variable-number tandem-repeat genotyping for Mycobacterium tuberculosis epidemiological studies.

The emergence of drug-resistant forms of tuberculosis (TB) represents a major public health concern. Understanding the transmission routes of the disease is a key factor for its control and for the implementation of efficient interventions. Mycobacterial interspersed repetitive-unit-variable-number tandem-repeat (MIRU-VNTR) marker typing is a well-described method for lineage identification and transmission tracking.