Cases of the Buruli ulcer are at record heights and researchers are investigating whether a new culprit could be to blame.
on track to see a record number of cases of the Buruli ulcer this year, researchers are investigating whether a new culprit could be behind the persistent spread of the flesh-eating disease into parts of Melbourne.
But, over the past six years, increasing numbers of cases have cropped up in different parts of Geelong, west of Melbourne. Leading Buruli ulcer expert Daniel O'Brien, who is the director of infectious diseases at Barwon Health, believes one possible answer to the spread of the disease could lie with another animal - foxes.published last September and carried out by researchers at Barwon Health, Deakin University and Australia's national science agency, the CSIRO.
"We might have found another vector, because what's never been explained very well is why is this disease moving into all these new areas," O'Brien said."It might be that there's something else moving - a fox roams far and wide, and therefore, it's possible they're involved in the transmission." Meanwhile, another study also co-authored by O'Brien, published last month, has helped shed light on which people are most at risk of developing the Buruli ulcer.
So far this year, there have been 259 cases recorded in the state, compared with 220 over the same period last year.
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