Disease model: pulmonary tuberculosis

in spite of a massive effort to apply the tools currently available for tub erculosis (TB) control, both in this country and abroad, it is clear that c omplicating factors [for example, HIV co-infection, drug resistance, lack o f patient compliance with chemotherapy, variable efficacy of Bacille Calmet te-Guerin (BCG) vaccine] will prevent disease control unless new drugs, vac cines and diagnostic tests are developed(1). The publication of the complet e genome sequence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in 1998(2) has facilitated a directed search for virulence genes, new drug targets, and vaccine antige ns. This research effort has been made possible by the availability of high ly biologically relevant animal models of pulmonary TB (Ref. 3).