In Australia, a flesh-eating bacteria that is believed to have been transmitted from possums and mosquitoes is spreading fast across the state of Victoria with health experts warning that “everyone” is at risk.
The health department in Victoria has issued an alert for Buruli Ulcer, the bacterial skin infection that can damage soft tissue and cause serious disfigurements, the New York Post reported.
“Lesions typically present as a slowly enlarging painless lump or wound which can initially be mistaken for an insect bite,” Victoria’s chief health officer Professor Ben Cowie said, while noting that the total cases this year are higher compared with previous ones.
Cowie warned that Buruli Ulcer is spreading across Victoria and is “no longer restricted to specific coastal locations.”
It has been detected in regions like Mornington Peninsula, East Gippsland, Westernport, Bellarine Peninsula, and Frankston and Langwarrin. Besides these, cases have also come up in southeastern bayside suburbs, which include the towns of Breamlea, Torquay, Anglesea, and Aireys Inlet as well as parts of Greater Geelong and the inner-Melbourne areas of Essendon, Moonee Ponds and Brunswick West, among others.
Alerting people that the disease may strike “everyone,” Cowie said that Buruli Ulcer can occur at any age and its “notifications are highest in people aged 60 years and above in Victoria”.
As per the Victoria Health Department, the summer months have brought along a higher risk of Buruli infections, while it usually takes between four-five months for an ulcer to develop following infection.
For now, authorities are suspecting that possums and mosquitoes play a significant role in transmitting the disease.
“The disease is not transmissible from person to person, however, there is evidence that both mosquitoes and possums play a role in disease transmission in Victoria,” Cowie said.
Till December 17, there have been 344 cases notified this year, compared with the same time in 2023 (362 cases), 2022 (338 cases), 2021 (286 cases), and 2020 (217 cases), The Guardian reported.
The bacterium which causes the ulcer has been found in possum excrement and “possums have been observed with ulcers and open sores, ” Cowie added.
