Prevalence of rifampicin-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Kebbi state, Nigeria

Tuberculosis remains a global public health burden in low and middle-income countries. The emergence and spread of drug-resistant microbial strains in high-burden countries like Nigeria pose a threat to achieving the One health approach. This study aimed at determining the prevalence of rifampicin resistance in sputum specimens of patients in Kebbi State, Nigeria using the GeneXpert Assay. It was a retrospective cross-sectional study and was carried out in Kebbi, North-Western Nigeria among patients who were confirmed positive for tuberculosis infection and visited the designated health zones, for various local government areas within the state. Sputum samples were analyzed using the GeneXpert technique. Data entry was made using Microsoft Excel and analyzed with SPSS version 20. A p-value less than 0.05 was taken as significant. The overall prevalence of rifampicin-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (RR-MTB) was 5.8% (14/240). The majority of the study participants were within the age grade 31-40 years (8.77%) and male participants (7.2%) were preponderant in comparison to female participants (2.7%). There was a significant association between settlement and rifampicin resistance in the study (p=0.05). The results showed that drug-resistant tuberculosis is prevalent in Kebbi State with a higher incidence observed in the Zuru Local Government Area of the state as compared to previous findings. This shows that improving the prevention and control efforts of tuberculosis in the state with relation to adequate regulatory strategies and policy formulation is of paramount importance