[Genome fingerprinting in the epidemiology and epizootology of tuberculosis]

The history and modern status of tuberculosis are analyzed from epidemiological viewpoint. Different repeating genetic elements of mycobacterial genome are described, which have been recently used to develop methods for typing of pathogenic mycobacterial strains. Genome fingerprinting is compared with the traditional methods of epidemiology. The prevalence of Mycobacterium bovis in domestic and wild animals is analyzed.