Background: The new Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic significantly impacted on tuberculosis (TB) services in both high and low TB burden countries.

Objectives: Aim of our study was to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on TB outpatient services in a rural area of Senegal.

Methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted at the Health care Centre of Diofior (HCD), Fatick Region, from 1st January 2018 to 31st December 2022. Annual data divided into pre-COVID-19 (until 31st March 2020) and post-COVID-19 (from 1st April 2020) period were analysed.

Results: Of the 246 TB patients included in the study (63.3% male, median age 35.5 years), 94 were diagnosed in the pre-COVID and 152 in the post-COVID period. In 2020, TB cases notifications decreased by 24.4% compared to 2019, with a subsequent increase of 70.6% in 2021 and 91.2% in 2022. TB treatment success rate decreased from 85.1% in the pre-COVID-19 to 56.6% in the post-COVID-19 period. In addition, mortality increased from 2.1% to 5.3% and the lost-to-follow-up rate increased from 8.5% to 11.2%, in pre and post-COVID-19 periods, respectively (Figure 1). 25% of individuals diagnosed with TB in the post-COVID-19 period are still on treatment and the final outcome is not available yet.

Conclusions: Despite few cases of COVID-19 reported in Senegal, our study shows that the pandemic severely affected TB services in this rural area of the country.