ArticlePLoS neglected tropical diseases2013
Geographic distribution, age pattern and sites of lesions in a cohort of Buruli ulcer patients from the Mapé Basin of Cameroon.
Article in PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 58 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
58 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 85 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
- Individual and clinical variables associated with the risk of Buruli ulcer acquisition: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2020Pooled it
- Mapping the global distribution of Buruli ulcer: a systematic review with evidence consensus.The Lancet. Global health · 2019Pooled it
- Local Heat Application for the Treatment of Buruli Ulcer: Results of a Phase II Open Label Single Center Non Comparative Clinical Trial.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2016Trial
- Trial
- The Mycobacterial cyt-Journal of medicinal chemistry · 2026Article
- Assessing the acceptability of photographs and medical illustrations in Buruli ulcer health communication among health providers, community volunteers and community members in endemic districts of Ghana.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2026Article
- Comparative analysis of Buruli ulcer in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire: A cross-sectional study.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2026Article
- Buruli ulcer.Nature reviews. Disease primers · 2025Review
- Investigation of chronic limb ulcers in Northern Cameroon: a socio-anthropological and clinical perspective.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Pseudogenomic insights into the evolution of Mycobacterium ulcerans.BMC genomics · 2024Article
- Comprehensive Case-Control Study of Protective and Risk Factors for Buruli Ulcer, Southeastern Australia.Emerging infectious diseases · 2023Article
- Perceived water-related risk factors of Buruli ulcer in two villages of south-central Côte d'Ivoire.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2022Article
- Quantifying Population Burden and Effectiveness of Decentralized Surveillance Strategies for Skin-Presenting Neglected Tropical Diseases, Liberia.Emerging infectious diseases · 2022Article
- Methods and Approaches for Buruli Ulcer Surveillance in Africa: Lessons Learnt and Future Directions.Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) · 2022Review
- Introduction of Mycobacterium ulcerans disease in the Bankim Health District of Cameroon follows damming of the Mapé River.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2020Article
- The immunology of other mycobacteria: M. ulcerans, M. leprae.Seminars in immunopathology · 2020Review
- Does skin surface temperature variation account for Buruli ulcer lesion distribution?PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2020Observational
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
12 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Buruli ulcer (BU), a neglected tropical disease of the skin, caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans, occurs most frequently in children in West Africa. Risk factors for BU include proximity to slow flowing water, poor wound care and not wearing protective clothing. Man-made alterations of the environment have been suggested to lead to increased BU incidence. M. ulcerans DNA has been detected in the environment, water bugs and recently also in mosquitoes. Despite these findings, the mode of transmission of BU remains poorly understood and both transmission by insects or direct inoculation from contaminated environment have been suggested. Here, we investigated the BU epidemiology in the Mapé basin of Cameroon where the damming of the Mapé River since 1988 is believed to have increased the incidence of BU. Through a house-by-house survey in spring 2010, which also examined the local population for leprosy and yaws, and continued surveillance thereafter, we identified, till June 2012, altogether 88 RT-PCR positive cases of BU. We found that the age adjusted cumulative incidence of BU was highest in young teenagers and in individuals above the age of 50 and that very young children (<5) were underrepresented among cases. BU lesions clustered around the ankles and at the back of the elbows. This pattern neither matches any of the published mosquito biting site patterns, nor the published distribution of small skin injuries in children, where lesions on the knees are much more frequent. The option of multiple modes of transmission should thus be considered. Analyzing the geographic distribution of cases in the Mapé Dam area revealed a closer association with the Mbam River than with the artificial lake.
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