ArticlePLoS neglected tropical diseases2010
A major role for mammals in the ecology of Mycobacterium ulcerans.
Article in PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 108 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
108 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 235 citations in OpenAlex.
- Transmission models of Mycobacterium ulcerans: A systematic review.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2025Pooled it
- A need for null models in understanding disease transmission: the example of Mycobacterium ulcerans (Buruli ulcer disease).FEMS microbiology reviews · 2022Pooled it
- Reducing mosquito-borne disease transmission to humans: A systematic review of cluster randomised controlled studies that assess interventions other than non-targeted insecticide.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2021Pooled it
- Ecology and transmission of Buruli ulcer disease: a systematic review.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2010Pooled it
- Defining new Buruli ulcer endemic areas in urban southeastern Australia using bacterial genomics-informed possum excreta surveys.Applied and environmental microbiology · 2025Article
- Buruli ulcer.Nature reviews. Disease primers · 2025Review
- Spatiotemporal distribution ofEmerging microbes & infections · 2025Article
- Successful treatment with joint retention of Mycobacterium ulcerans prosthetic joint infection in a patient with rheumatoid arthritis.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2025Article
- The Role of Foxes in Transmitting Zoonotic Bacteria to Humans: A Scoping Review.Zoonoses and public health · 2025Article
- Management of Mycobacterium ulcerans infection (Buruli ulcer) in Australia: consensus statement.The Medical journal of Australia · 2025Article
- Detection ofApplied and environmental microbiology · 2025Article
- Epidemiology of Buruli Ulcer in Victoria, Australia, 2017-2022.Emerging infectious diseases · 2025Review
- Mycobacterium ulcerans in Possum Feces before Emergence in Humans, Australia.Emerging infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Buruli ulcer in Australia: Evidence for a new endemic focus at Batemans Bay, New South Wales.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2024Article
- Buruli ulcer surveillance in south-eastern Australian possums: Infection status, lesion mapping and internal distribution of Mycobacterium ulcerans.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2024Article
- Experimental infection of ringtail possums (Pseudocheirus peregrinus) with Mycobacterium ulcerans, the agent of Buruli ulcer.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- A low-cost and versatile paramagnetic bead DNA extraction method forApplied and environmental microbiology · 2024Article
- Mosquitoes as Vectors of Mycobacterium ulcerans Based on Analysis of Notifications of Alphavirus Infection and Buruli Ulcer, Victoria, Australia.Emerging infectious diseases · 2024Article
- Systematic review: Global host range, case fatality and detection rates ofJournal of clinical tuberculosis and other mycobacterial diseases · 2024Review
- Mycobacterium ulcerans challenge strain selection for a Buruli ulcer controlled human infection model.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2024Article
48 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
12 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundMycobacterium ulcerans is the causative agent of Buruli ulcer (BU), a destructive skin disease found predominantly in sub-Saharan Africa and south-eastern Australia. The precise mode(s) of transmission and environmental reservoir(s) remain unknown, but several studies have explored the role of aquatic invertebrate species. The purpose of this study was to investigate the environmental distribution of M. ulcerans in south-eastern Australia. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL
findingsA range of environmental samples was collected from Point Lonsdale (a small coastal town southwest of Melbourne, Australia, endemic for BU) and from areas with fewer or no reported incident cases of BU. Mycobacterium ulcerans DNA was detected at low levels by real-time PCR in soil, sediment, water residue, aquatic plant biofilm and terrestrial vegetation collected in Point Lonsdale. Higher levels of M. ulcerans DNA were detected in the faeces of common ringtail (Pseudocheirus peregrinus) and common brushtail (Trichosurus vulpecula) possums. Systematic testing of possum faeces revealed that M. ulcerans DNA could be detected in 41% of faecal samples collected in Point Lonsdale compared with less than 1% of faecal samples collected from non-endemic areas (p<0.0001). Capture and clinical examination of live possums in Point Lonsdale validated the accuracy of the predictive value of the faecal surveys by revealing that 38% of ringtail possums and 24% of brushtail possums had laboratory-confirmed M. ulcerans skin lesions and/or M. ulcerans PCR positive faeces. Whole genome sequencing revealed an extremely close genetic relationship between human and possum M. ulcerans isolates. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The prevailing wisdom is that M. ulcerans is an aquatic pathogen and that BU is acquired by contact with certain aquatic environments (swamps, slow-flowing water). Now, after 70 years of research, we propose a transmission model for BU in which terrestrial mammals are implicated as reservoirs for M. ulcerans.
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