As tens of thousands of Ugandans continue to get infected with the deadly Tuberculosis (TB) disease, a top expert here is warning that the country is being gripped by a lethal mutated strain of the disease.

Francis Adatu, head of the National Leprosy and Tuberculosis Program, told Xinhua in an interview on Tuesday that the deadly disease which manifests itself as a chronic cough associated with chest pain, evening fevers, night sweat and evident loss of weight remains a major public health problem in the East African country.

The 2010 Global World Health Organization Report ranks Uganda as the 16th among the 22 TB high burden countries in the world.

In 2011, the country recorded 49,009 TB cases out of which 25, 612 were infectious and 55 percent were HIV co-infected, according to ministry of health statistics.

Many HIV patients in Uganda develop TB.

Research has shown that TB if not treated kills a person within a period of two years. The affected person, if not treated can infect another 10 to 15 persons by the end of the year.

On average a TB patient looses 4-6 months of income and this causes adverse socio-economic effects on the patient and the family.

The battle against the disease is even getting more complicated as a more lethal mutated strain is slowly but surely increasing in the country.

Due to challenges of delivering quality treatment regimens that help TB patients take their medication strictly as prescribed, the new mutated strain, Multidrug Resistant TB, or 'MDR' TB, has developed.

"According to our prevalence survey we found MDR TB in 1.3 percent among new cases and 12.3 percent among people who have been exposed to drugs or treated over and over again," Adatu said.

Not taking the full course of drugs or taking them inconsistently can cause the TB bacteria to mutate and become resistant to the drugs used to treat TB.

Thus, the contagious and difficult to treat MDR-TB can develop in individuals and be transmitted to others.

According to Adatu, treatment of this new strain costs 3,000 U. S. dollars, 100 times more expensive than the ordinary strain.

"It is a very big threat. Treatment costs 100 times the ordinary treatment and if you get it, the treatment is longer. Ordinary TB is treated for 6-8 months while MDR TB is treated for 24 months with more expensive drugs and drugs with more side effects," he said.

In order to combat the scourge, the Uganda government with funds from the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis on Tuesday distributed 108 specialized microscopes that can be used to diagnose TB.

This follows a previous survey which showed that many health facilities in the country did not have the right microscopes to conduct TB tests.

Adatu said that government is to acquire a 10 million dollar loan facility from the World Bank to construct satellite laboratory centers in different parts of the country to reduce on the distance the patients with MDR TB have to move.

Currently patient specimens from across the country are sent to the country's National TB Reference Laboratory located in the capital Kampala.

Local laboratories throughout the country and in the East African region rely on this National TB Reference Lab to provide quality assurance for the diagnosis of TB and MDR-TB.

According to the ministry of health, the government has earmarked funds to ensure that the country has a secure supply of anti-TB drugs.

A credit line has been established in the National Medical Stores for laboratory supplies and reagents.

Several health workers have also undergone training to upgrade their knowledge and skills in TB control.

TB patients through their communities are monitored on a monthly basis till they end their treatment in a bid to reduce the incidence of MD TB.

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet