Mycobacterium ulcerans fails to infect through skin abrasions in a guinea pig infection model: implications for transmission.

ABSTRACT: Transmission of M. ulcerans, the etiological agent of Buruli ulcer, from the environment to humans remains an enigma despite decades of research. Major transmission hypotheses propose 1) that M. ulcerans is acquired through an insect bite or 2) that bacteria enter an existing wound through exposure to a contaminated environment. In studies reported here, a guinea pig infection model was developed to determine whether Buruli ulcer could be produced through passive inoculation of M. ulcerans onto a superficial abrasion. The choice of an abrasion model was based on the fact that most bacterial pathogens infecting the skin are able to infect an open lesion, and that abrasions are extremely common in children. Our studies show that after a 90d infection period, an ulcer was present at intra-der

SUBMITTER: Williamson HR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3983084 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature