_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ *Corresponding author: E-mail: nsirumoh1611@gmail.com; Journal of Advances in Microbiology 1(2): 1-7, 2016; Article no.JAMB.31050 SCIENCEDOMAIN international www.sciencedomain.org Timely Detection of Drug-resistant Tuberculosis Using Thin Layer Agar in Nigeria N. O. Umoh 1* , B. D. Thumamo Pokam 2,3 , A. N. Umo 4 and A. E. Asuquo 5 1 Department of Medical Laboratory Science, Faculty of Health Sciences and Technology, Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki, Nigeria. 2 Department of Medical Laboratory Science, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Buea, Buea, Cameroon. 3 Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, Ghana. 4 Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, College of Health Sciences, University of Uyo, Uyo, Nigeria. 5 Department of Medical Laboratory Science, Faculty of Allied Medical Sciences, University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria. Authors’ contributions This work was carried out in collaboration between all authors. Author NOU designed the study, wrote the protocol, carried out the laboratory analyses and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. Author BDTP performed the statistical analysis. Author ANU contributed to the literature searches. Author AEA co-designed the study, managed the analyses and vetted the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. Article Information DOI: 10.9734/JAMB/2016/31050 Editor(s): (1) Pongsak Rattanachaikunsopon, Department of Biological Science, Faculty of Science, Ubon Ratchathani University, Ubon Ratchathani 34190, Thailand. (2) Hung-Jen Liu, Distinguished professor, Institute of Molecular Biology, National Chung Hsing University, Taiwan. Reviewers: (1) Magda Ramadan Abdel Wadood Abdeltwab, Ainshams University, Cairo, Egypt. (2) Fakruddin, Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST), Bangladesh. (3) Guadalupe García-Elorriaga, Mexican Social Security Institute, Mexico. (4) Anonymous, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria. (5) Veronica Alejandra Gaona Flores, Infectious Diseases Hospital, Mexico. Complete Peer review History: http://www.sciencedomain.org/review-history/17632 Received 17 th December 2016 Accepted 18 th January 2017 Published 27 th January 2017 ABSTRACT Background: The global prevalence of drug-resistant tuberculosis poses serious public health challenges which have heightened the need for evaluation and utilization of new tools for the disease diagnosis, especially in developing countries. In order to evaluate the rapidity and accuracy of Thin Layer Agar (TLA) in the diagnosis of drug resistant TB; a comparative study was carried out in Nigeria. Original Research Article