Journal article
Mosquitoes provide a transmission route between possums and humans for Buruli ulcer in southeastern Australia
PT Mee, AH Buultjens, J Oliver, K Brown, JC Crowder, JL Porter, EC Hobbs, LM Judd, G Taiaroa, N Puttharak, DA Williamson, KR Blasdell, EL Tay, R Feldman, MO Muzari, C Sanders, S Larsen, SR Crouch, PDR Johnson, JR Wallace Show all
Nature Microbiology | Published : 2024
Abstract
Buruli ulcer, a chronic subcutaneous infection caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans, is increasing in prevalence in southeastern Australia. Possums are a local wildlife reservoir for M. ulcerans and, although mosquitoes have been implicated in transmission, it remains unclear how humans acquire infection. We conducted extensive field survey analyses of M. ulcerans prevalence among mosquitoes in the Mornington Peninsula region of southeastern Australia. PCR screening of trapped mosquitoes revealed a significant association between M. ulcerans and Aedes notoscriptus. Spatial scanning statistics revealed overlap between clusters of M. ulcerans-positive Ae. notoscriptus, M. ulcerans-positive possum ..
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Grants
Awarded by National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Acknowledgements
This research was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (GNT1152807 and GNT1196396) to E.L.T., S.R.C., P.D.R.J., A.A.H., K.B.G., T.P.S. and S.E.L., Investigator Award (GNT1194325) to T.P.S and Investigator Award (MRF1193727) to K.B.G. The Millersville University Faculty Grant and Sabbatical Leave Grant Program supported J.R.W. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript. We thank the residents of the Mornington Peninsula for assisting in collecting and sending sticky cards to our laboratory as part of our surveillance and to M. Tachedjian, M. Dunn, S. Clayton, J. Gaburro and V. Boyd for assistance during field work.