Flesh-eating bacteria found in popular holiday spot

Following the discovery of a rare, flesh-eating virus in Victoria and New South Wales, people on Australia’s east coast are being advised to try to avoid mosquito bites during the summer.

Buruli

ulcers, which can result in irreversible damage to skin and tissue, are related to leprosy and tuberculosis. After hundreds of illnesses in Geelong, Melbourne, and the Mornington Peninsula, as well as at least two cases in Batemans Bay, scientists think there is a chance of a larger outbreak.
A caution to cover up during the warmer months was issued after Victorian health authorities recorded a high number of cases of flesh-eating ulcers this year. The majority of the 363 occurrences of Buruli ulcers that were detected among Victorians in 2023 were not serious. Bacterial ulcers can result in serious skin damage, including uncomfortable lumps, limb swelling, and sometimes excruciating agony.
The lesion usually takes weeks or months to heal after first presenting as an insect bite. To stop the loss of skin and tissue, early detection and diagnosis are essential. There may be severe ulceration and tissue loss if treatment is not received.
A 94-year-old man had his ring finger amputated in one of the Batemans Bay cases after a huge skin lesion containing the ulcer-causing bacteria spread.

According to the Victorian Department of Health, oral medications could treat most cases of the mosquito-linked sickness, but early discovery was crucial because the ulcers expanded over time. The

Buruli ulcer

is caused by the bug Mycobacterium ulcerans. Experts in

infectious diseases

are concerned about the emergence of flesh-eating ulcers in a new region of Australia.
Ingrid Stitt, the state’s acting health minister, advised residents and visitors to coastal areas to take preventative measures against getting bitten on Thursday.

According to her, “warmer weather gives mosquitoes an ideal breeding environment.” “Winners should cover up when they’re outside, use insect repellent with Deet, and wash any fresh cuts and scratches to maintain good hygiene.”
In order to lower the risk of infection, the health service also suggests that people use insect screens to make their homes mosquito-proof and stay away from places where mosquitoes are likely to bite, such as during twilight and dawn.
Although there have been sporadic incidences of Buruli in Australia since the 1930s, health officials observed a surge in cases in 2017 when over 100 individuals were ill. The next year, 13-year-old Ella Crofts was one of 340 Australians who received a Buruli diagnosis. She posted a petition calling on the government to combat the “tropical third-world disease that’s rampant” on the Mornington Peninsula following three major surgeries on her knee. She posted pictures of her bleeding wounds with the caption, “If we, a wealthy country, could research this disease we might save countless people from disfigurement and disability.” Over 16,000 people signed her petition, and the government took notice, allocating $1.1 million over two years for research and prevention.

The former Ugandan county on the western bank of the Victoria Nile, which rises from Lake Victoria and flows north toward Sudan, is where Buruli got its name. The only similarity between the two Victorias is their shared history of British imperialism. Situated directly on the equator, Uganda is hot and tropical, while Victoria, a temperate state in southern Australia, is 1,000 miles south of the Tropic of Capricorn. Although buruli, which originates from marshes and river basins, is considered a disease of poverty, southern Victoria is known as Pinot Noir region and is on the verge of drought.
Medicine has given very little attention to an illness that, despite its cruelty, largely affects the poorest people in Africa since Buruli’s first description in the middle of the 20th century. If left untreated, the infection gradually worms its way beneath the skin before rupturing the surface, leaving its victims deformed and maimed. They smell of rot from their rotting limbs. Even though they rarely pass away from the illness, they are occasionally shunned in their communities, leaving them without a job and in poverty.