Objective. To evaluate the prevalence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis related to the Beijing genotype and its B0 / W148 subtype in Belarus and to determine their clinical and epidemiological significance.

Materials and methods. An express multiplex real time PCR method with dual hydrolysis probes was used to differentiate between Beijing and non-Beijing genotypes of M. tuberculosis. The standard PCR with INS1, Rv2665R, W139F2T primers was applied to identify the B0/W148 lineage of Beijing genotype.

Results. The study provided evidences of the Beijing genotype dominance among the circulating M. tuberculosis streins in Belarus patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. The proportion of Beijing genotype among the patients with primary diagnosed TB was 61.7% (29/47). The Beijing genotype isolation frequencies in Minsk, Mogilev, Gomel, and Grodno regions were 51.85±9.62, 66.27±10.38, 85.71±15.93, 55±23.28%, respectively. The data demonstrated a high degree of the Beijing genotype association with pre-XDR tuberculosis (p<0.05) and ineffective treatment (primary and repeated, (p<0.05)). The B0/W148 lineage accounted for 22.82±5.41% of all isolates and 37.93±8.29% of the Beijing genotype isolates. The genetic B0/W148 clone was registered in Minsk, Mogilev, Gomel, and Grodno regions. Its proportion among the Beijing genotype isolates accounted for 44.64±13.22, 23.64±13.48, 33.33±24.33, 72.73±33.59%, respectively. The genetic B0/W148 variant was characterized by a high level of transmission (53.22%) mainly among the male population (p<0.05), unemployed, people with the 2nd group disability, pensioners, by a dominant spread in Minsk and Grodno regions (p<0.05), by a higher frequency of drug resistance (all strains are either pre-XDR or XDR) and by resistance to a wider range of anti-TB drugs.