ArticleInfection ecology & epidemiology2013
Fish and amphibians as potential reservoirs of Mycobacterium ulcerans, the causative agent of Buruli ulcer disease.
Article in Infection ecology & epidemiology, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 37 citations in OpenAlex.
- Integrated action for skin NTDs: Deconstructing transmission, addressing knowledge gaps, and championing one health strategies.Nature communications · 2026Review
- Spatiotemporal distribution ofEmerging microbes & infections · 2025Article
- Review
- Review of methods for detection and characterization of non-tuberculous mycobacteria in aquatic organisms.Journal of veterinary diagnostic investigation : official publication of the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians, Inc · 2024Review
- Review
- ProfilingFuture science OA · 2023Review
- Linking theOne health (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2021Review
- Mapping suitability for Buruli ulcer at fine spatial scales across Africa: A modelling study.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2021Article
- Potential Animal Reservoir ofTropical medicine and infectious disease · 2018Review
- Non-tuberculous Mycobacterium species causing mycobacteriosis in farmed aquatic animals of South Africa.BMC microbiology · 2018Article
- Buruli Ulcer, a Prototype for Ecosystem-Related Infection, Caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans.Clinical microbiology reviews · 2018Review
- The chemistry and biology of mycolactones.Beilstein journal of organic chemistry · 2017Review
- Socio-Environmental Factors Associated with the Risk of Contracting Buruli Ulcer in Tiassalé, South Côte d'Ivoire: A Case-Control Study.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2016Article
- Mycobacterium ulcerans ecological dynamics and its association with freshwater ecosystems and aquatic communities: results from a 12-month environmental survey in Cameroon.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2014Article
- Article
- Regulation of mycolactone, the Mycobacterium ulcerans toxin, depends on nutrient source.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2013Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundBuruli ulcer is a skin disease often associated with proximity to certain water bodies in Africa. Much remains unknown about the reservoir and transmission of this disease. Previous studies have suggested that fish may concentrate Mycobacterium ulcerans, the etiological agent of the disease, in their gills and intestines and serve as passive reservoirs of the bacterium. The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that fish and amphibians serve as natural reservoirs of M. ulcerans or other closely related mycolactone-producing mycobacteria.
methodsPolymerase chain reaction targeting the enoyl reductase (ER) domain present in mlsA, which is required for mycolactone production, was used to screen water, fish, and amphibians from water bodies in Ghana for the presence of mycolactone-producing mycobacteria, and positive specimens were subjected to variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) typing.
resultsThe use of VNTR typing revealed the presence of Mycobacterium liflandii in a tadpole and a fish, and M. ulcerans in an adult frog. Similarity percentage analysis (SIMPER) showed that the predatory cichlid Hemichromis bimaculatus was associated with ER-positive water bodies. No amphibian species or fish-feeding guild served as a reliable indicator of the presence of mycolactone-producing mycobacteria in a water body, and there was no significant difference between fish and amphibian positivity rates (P-value=0.106). There was a significant difference between water bodies in the total number of ER-positive specimens (P-value=0.0164).
conclusionsAlthough IS2404-positive tadpoles and fish have been reported, this is the first VNTR confirmation of M. ulcerans or M. liflandii in wild amphibian and fish populations in West Africa. Results from this study suggest that amphibians should be carefully examined as potential reservoirs for M. ulcerans in West Africa, and that H. bimaculatus may be useful as an indicator of habitats likely to support mycolactone-producing mycobacteria.
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