[Distribution of lysotypes of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in relation to the country of origin of the patient].

The diversity among the phage types of 422 strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolated from patients of different geographical origins suggested that this method might prove useful in studying the propagation of tuberculosis in different types of populations. We first investigated M. tuberculosis strains isolated from France, Portugal, Romania, Algeria, Egypt, Uganda, Mali and India. We then studied in detail two groups of immigrants residing in France, from Portugal and North Africa, respectively. This investigation showed that most patients were suffering from a M. tuberculosis strain with a phage type specific of their country of origin. Factor analysis helped to display phage typing relationships with respect to the geographical origin of patients.