Editorial: Using omics to study leprosy, tuberculosis, and other mycobacterial diseases

Using omics to study leprosy, tuberculosis, and other mycobacterial diseases Diseases caused by Mycobacterium species have always been prominent public health problems. Notwithstanding, many aspects of basic bacterial biology, pathogenesis, transmission, and immune regulation remain unknown. Of the various important mycobacterial human diseases, tuberculosis represents the largest global threat, as it is currently the second most deadly infectious disease, behind COVID-19 only; In 2020, an estimated 1.5 million people died from tuberculosis, a preventable and treatable disease (World Health Organization, 2021a). As the second player between mycobacterial diseases, leprosy affects neglected populations in low-and middle-income countries, causing permanent disabilities if left untreated. The COVID-19 pandemic reduced the detection and reporting of new leprosy cases by 37% (World Health Organization, 2021b), which will have a negative impact on disease control for years to come. Besides M. tuberculosis and M. leprae, the causative agents of tuberculosis and leprosy, respectively, non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are gaining importance as pathogens, as increasing numbers of infections are being reported worldwide