Drug-resistant tuberculosis is a particular problem in parts of the former Soviet Union and China, but data is lacking for other potential hot spots

Drug-resistant tuberculosis is a particular problem in parts of the former Soviet Union and China, but data is lacking for other potential hot spots, the World Health Organization reported Tuesday. Data from 67,657 TB patients in 77 countries and regions found the worst problem in Kazakhstan and in Israel, where 14.2 of the cases were resistant to two or more drugs. Other problem areas were Tomsk Oblast in the Russian Federation, 13.7 percent; Karakalpakstan in Uzbekistan, 13.2 percent; Estonia, 12.2 percent; Liaoning Province in China, 10.4 percent; Lithuania, 9.4 percent; Latvia, 9.3 percent, China's Henan province, 7.8 percent, and Ecuador, 6.6 percent. The prevalence of TB strains resistant to two or more drugs "was exceptionally high in almost all former Soviet Union countries surveyed, including Estonia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, the Russian Federation, and Uzbekistan," the report said. "High prevalences of MDR (multiple-drug-resistant)-TB were also found among new cases in China (Henan and Liaoning provinces), Ecuador and Israel. Central Europe and Africa, in contrast, reported the lowest median levels of drug resistance," the report added. It said information was lacking on drug-resistance in some other countries with a high incidence of TB, including Bangladesh, Indonesia and Nigeria. The WHO estimates there are 300,000 new cases per year of multiple-drug-resistant TB around the world, and 79 percent of MDR-TB cases now show resistance to three or more drugs.