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• We report leprosy prevalence and clustering from an extensive population dataset. • Of 455 leprosy patients, 44% belonged to high prevalent clusters. • In new leprosy patients, 38% resided ≤25 m of another leprosy patient. • Leprosy risk decreased progressively with distance to the nearest leprosy patient. • Risk ratios varied from 7.3 in residents at the same household and 1.7 at 75–<100 m. To identify patterns of spatial clustering of leprosy. We performed a baseline survey for a trial on post-exposure prophylaxis for leprosy in Comoros and Madagascar. We screened 64 villages, door-to-door, and recorded results of screening, demographic data and geographic coordinates. To identify clusters, we fitted a purely spatial Poisson model using Kulldorff's spatial scan statistic. We used a regular Poisson model to assess the risk of contracting leprosy at the individual level as a function of distance to the nearest known leprosy patient. We identified 455 leprosy patients; 200 (44.0%) belonged to 2735 households included in a cluster. Thirty-eight percent of leprosy patients versus 10% of the total population live ≤25 m from another leprosy patient. Risk ratios for being diagnosed with leprosy were 7.3, 2.4, 1.8, 1.4 and 1.7, for those at the same household, at 1–<25 m, 25–<50 m, 50–<75 m and 75–<100 m as/from a leprosy patient, respectively, compared to those living at ≥100 m. We documented significant clustering of leprosy beyond household level, although 56% of cases were not part of a cluster. Control measures need to be extended beyond the household, and social networks should be further explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Northern Ethiopia hosts a wide diversity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBc) lineages: L1–L4 and L7. • East-African-Indian (L3) is the most frequent lineage, followed by Euro-American (L4). • MTBc population structure was similar in genotyping of sputa and cultured isolates. • Most MTBc strains (94.5%) were susceptible to both rifampicin and isoniazid. This study described the population structure of M. tuberculosis complex (MTBc) strains among patients with pulmonary or lymph node tuberculosis (TB) in Northwest Ethiopia and tested the performance of culture isolation and MPT64-based speciation for Lineage 7 (L7). Patients were recruited between April 2017 and June 2019 in North Gondar, Ethiopia. The MPT64 assay was used to confirm MTBc, and spoligotyping was used to characterize mycobacterial lineages. Line probe assay (LPA) was used to detect resistance to rifampicin and isoniazid. Among 274 MTBc genotyped isolates, there were five MTBc lineages: L1–L4 and L7 were identified, with predominant East-African-Indian (L3) (53.6%) and Euro-American (L4) (40.1%) strains, and low prevalence (2.6%) of Ethiopia L7. The genotypes were similarly distributed between pulmonary and lymph node TB, and all lineages were equally isolated by culture and recognized as MTBc by the MPT64 assay. Additionally, LPA showed that 259 (94.5%) MTBc were susceptible to both rifampicin and isoniazid, and one (0.4%) was multi-drug resistant (resistant to both rifampicin and isoniazid). These findings show that TB in North Gondar, Ethiopia, is mainly caused by L3 and L4 strains, with low rates of L7, confirmed as MTBc by MPT64 assay and with limited resistance to rifampicin and isoniazid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Shorter treatment regimen for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. • Effect of companion drug resistance on adverse outcomes. • Gatifloxacin and isoniazid minimum inhibitory concentration. • Whole-genome sequencing. • Non-eligibility for the regimen not associated with adverse outcome. • Exclusions justified only in the case of fluoroquinolone or kanamycin resistance. We investigated whether companion drug resistance was associated with adverse outcomes of the shorter multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) treatment regimen in Bangladesh after adjustment for fluoroquinolone resistance. MDR-TB/rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis patients registered for treatment with a standardized gatifloxacin-based shorter MDR-TB treatment regimen were selected for the study. Drug resistance was determined by the proportion method, gatifloxacin and isoniazid minimum inhibitory concentration testing for selected isolates, and whole-genome sequencing. Low-level fluoroquinolone resistance and high-level fluoroquinolone resistance were the most important predictors of adverse outcomes, with pyrazinamide resistance having a significant yet lower impact. In patients with fluoroquinolone-/second-line-injectable-susceptible tuberculosis, non-eligibility for the shorter MDR-TB treatment regimen (initial resistance to pyrazinamide, ethionamide, or ethambutol) was not associated with adverse outcome (adjusted odds ratio 1.01; 95% confidence interval 0.4–2.8). Kanamycin resistance was uncommon (1.3%). Increasing levels of resistance to isoniazid predicted treatment failure, also in a subgroup of patients with high-level fluoroquinolone-resistant tuberculosis. Our results suggest that resistance to companion drugs in the shorter MDR-TB treatment regimen, except kanamycin resistance, is of no clinical importance as long as fluoroquinolone susceptibility is preserved. Hence, contrary to current WHO guidelines, exclusions to the standard regimen are justified only in the case of fluoroquinolone resistance. and possibly kanamycin resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]