Clinical, microbiological and pathological findings of Mycobacterium ulcerans infection in three Australian Possum species.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Buruli ulcer (BU) is a skin disease caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans, with endemicity predominantly in sub-Saharan Africa and south-eastern Australia. The mode of transmission and the environmental reservoir(s) of the bacterium and remain elusive. Real-time PCR investigations have detected M. ulcerans DNA in a variety of Australian environmental samples, including the faeces of native possums with and without clinical evidence of infection. This report seeks to expand on previously published findings by the authors' investigative group with regards to clinical and subclinical disease in selected wild possum species in BU-endemic areas of Victoria, Australia.

Methodology/principal findings

Twenty-seven clinical cases of M. ulcerans infection in free-ranging possums

SUBMITTER: O'Brien CR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3907337 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature