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Context: This study was conducted at the National Tuberculosis Center in Burkina Faso from October 2007 through May 2008., Objective: Our objective was to compare the diagnostic performance of three staining methods: Kinyoun, auramine O, and Ziehl-Neelsen., Methods: Ziehl-Neelsen staining served as the reference method to assess the diagnostic performance of Kinyoun and auramine O staining. In all, 616 sputum smears from 233 patients were read with each method to detect acid-fast bacilli. SPSS was used for data analysis., Results: The results of auramine O staining showed positive diagnoses in 15.9% of the samples; sensitivity was 100%, specificity 95.6%, and the positive and negative predictive values 75.7% and 100% respectively. Kinyoun staining produced a positive diagnosis rate of 12%, sensitivity of 96.4%, specificity of 99.5%, and positive and negative predictive values of 96.4% and 99.5%., Conclusion: Our study indicates that auramine O staining had a better sensitivity for detecting acid-fast bacilli than Kinyoun staining. Accordingly, the use of auramine O staining should increase the detection rate for pulmonary tuberculosis in Burkina Faso.