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Flesh eating disease found in new part of Australian state

A gruesome and serious flesh-eating disease has now been found in a new part of Australian.

Buruli ulcer is a skin disease which has been reported in over 30 countries around the world, the rare skin disease most commonly occurs along the Victorian coast, according to Victoria Health. The skin disease is caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium ulcerans.

Buruli ulcer is known by many different names, depending on its locality.

The rare tropical skin disease was first discovered in Victoria in the Bairnsdale area in the 1930s, where it is referred to as the Bairnsdale ulcer.

Port Douglas in Queensland is popular among tourists. Just half an hours drive inland, three people have contracted a skin-eating disease. Source: AAP Image/Port Douglas Daintree Tourism, Darren Jew.
Port Douglas in Queensland is popular among tourists. Just half an hours drive inland, three people have contracted a skin-eating disease. Source: AAP Image/Port Douglas Daintree Tourism, Darren Jew.

The disease was also known as the ‘Daintree ulcer’ to locals and cases have been found Queensland’s Daintree river and Mossman river.

Now, another breakout has been detected in Julatten in Queensland where three people have been confirmed to have contracted the bacterium, including a child, according to The Australian.

Julatten is an inland town, not far from Port Douglas, a popular tourist destination on Queensland’s coast, north of Cairns.

Speaking with the Australian, Professor Tim Stinear of the University of Melbourne’s Peter Doherty Institute for ­Infection and Immunology said the spread to another part of Queensland is significant.

“I agree that’s a real shift … it might suggest that the (infection) reservoir has shifted. I think that’s cause for concern and definitely needs investigation,” Professor Stinear told the paper.

In 2017, over 250 cases of the disease were diagnosed. Source: Better Health Victoria
In 2017, over 250 cases of the disease were diagnosed. Source: Better Health Victoria

In 2017, there were 275 diagnosed cases of the Buruli ulcer in Australia, according to The Leprosy Mission Australia. Most of the cases were diagnosed in coastal areas of Victoria around Mornington Peninsula and the Bellarine Peninsula.

In 2014, there were just 89 cases diagnosed.

What is most baffling to experts is how the disease is spread, it is assumed it is through mosquitos, according to The Leprosy Mission Australia, and Better Health Victoria states the bacterium has also been detected in vegetation and possum poo from certain possum species from within the area.

If left untreated, Buruli can result in permanent disfigurement and skin loss. An early diagnosis is the best chance to minimise skin loss, as the ulcer gets bigger over time.

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