Risk Factors for<i>Mycobacterium ulcerans</i>Infection, Southeastern Australia

Quek, Tricia; Athan, Eugene; Henry, Margaret J.; Pasco, Julie A.; Redden-Hoare, Jane; Hughes, Andrew; Johnson, Paul D R

doi:10.3201/eid1311.061206

Cited by 106 publications

(135 citation statements)

References 37 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

128

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Biting aquatic insects, such as several taxa in the Belostomatidae and Naucoridae families (Hemiptera), have been suggested as possible vectors of M. ulcerans in several laboratory experiments (16,19,20,24,31,32); however, there is little empirical evidence from field studies to support the contention that these biting insects vector M. ulcerans to humans (2). In Melbourne, Australia, recent epidemiological evidence suggests that mosquitoes may serve as vectors in the transmission of BU disease (10,11,12,34,35). In this study, 957 pools consisting of over 11,000 mosquitoes of four different species were collected and tested by quantitative PCR (qPCR) for the presence of M. ulcerans DNA, and positive results were obtained from 48 of 957 pools tested (10).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Interaction of Mycobacterium ulcerans with Mosquito Species: Implications for Transmission and Trophic Relationships

Wallace

Gordon

Hartsell

et al. 2010

Appl Environ Microbiol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Mycobacterium ulcerans is the causative agent of Buruli ulcer, a severe necrotizing skin disease that causes significant morbidity in Africa and Australia. Person-to-person transmission of Buruli ulcer is rare. Throughout Africa and Australia infection is associated with residence near slow-moving or stagnant water bodies. Although M. ulcerans DNA has been detected in over 30 taxa of invertebrates, fish, water filtrate, and plant materials and one environmental isolate cultured from a water strider (Gerridae), the invertebrate taxa identified are not adapted to feed on humans, and the mode of transmission for Buruli ulcer remains an enigma. Recent epidemiological reports from Australia describing the presence of M. ulcerans DNA in adult mosquitoes have led to the hypothesis that mosquitoes play an important role in the transmission of M. ulcerans. In this study we have investigated the potential of mosquitoes to serve as biological or mechanical vectors or as environmental reservoirs for M. ulcerans. Here we show that Aedes aegypti, A. albopictus, Ochlerotatus triseriatus, and Culex restuans larvae readily ingest wild-type M. ulcerans, isogenic toxin-negative mutants, and Mycobacterium marinum isolates and remain infected throughout larval development. However, the infections are not carried over into the pupae or adult mosquitoes, suggesting an unlikely role for mosquitoes as biological vectors. By following M. ulcerans through a food chain consisting of primary (mosquito larvae), secondary (predatory mosquito larva from Toxorhynchites rutilus septentrionalis), and tertiary (Belostoma species) consumers, we have shown that M. ulcerans can be productively maintained in an aquatic food web.

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Interaction of Mycobacterium ulcerans with Mosquito Species: Implications for Transmission and Trophic Relationships

Wallace

Gordon

Hartsell

et al. 2010

Appl Environ Microbiol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…More than 30 countries worldwide have reported this emerging disease, reaching epidemic proportions in some areas, and children between the ages of 5 and 15 in the rural wetlands of West Africa are most affected (38). Although proximity to marshes and wetlands is a risk factor, the mode of transmission remains an enigma (10,26,27,36,37). Discrimination of genetic variants has become an indispensable tool to unravel the evolution, epidemiology, and transmission of pathogenic organisms and to gain insight into host-pathogen interactions (6,13,24).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms on the Road to Strain Differentiation in Mycobacterium ulcerans

2009

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The genomic fine-typing of strains of Mycobacterium ulcerans, the causative agent of the emerging human disease Buruli ulcer, is difficult due to the clonal population structure of geographical lineages. Although large sequence polymorphisms (LSPs) resulted in the clustering of patient isolates originating from across the globe, differentiation of strains within continents using conventional typing methods is very limited. In this study, we analyzed M. ulcerans LSP haplotype-specific insertion sequence elements among 83 M. ulcerans strains and identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that differentiate between regional strains. This is the first genetic discrimination based on SNPs of M. ulcerans strains from African countries where Buruli ulcer is endemic, resulting in the highest geographic resolution of genotyping so far. The findings support the concept of genome-wide SNP analyses as tools to study the epidemiology and evolution of M. ulcerans at a local level.

show abstract

“…A recent Australian study suggested that, in BU-endemic regions, mosquitoes become colonized or passively contaminated when they come into contact with M. ulcerans in the environment, and then, they transmit it to humans living nearby. 12 It was also reported when salt marsh mosquitoes trapped in multiple locations near the area of a BU outbreak were tested; the presence of M. ulcerans in pools of mosquito DNA with three separate PCR targets, including IS2404, were confirmed. 13 Mucocutaneous leishmaniasis, exclusively observed in South America, is caused by L. braziliensis and transmitted by sandfly bites.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Cutaneous Ulcer Resulting from Mycobacterium ulcerans—Leishmania braziliensis Coinfection in South America

Mougin¹,

Avenel-Audran²,

Hasseine³

et al. 2011

The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Buruli ulcer is a tropical skin disease caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans . Its mode of transmission is not yet clearly understood. We report here a cutaneous ulcer in a European traveler in South America resulting from a coinfection detected specifically for Mycobacterium ulcerans and Leishmania braziliensis DNA with real-time polymerase chain reaction. This observation of a unique cutaneous ulcer raises the issue about possible modes of transmission of those two pathogens by the same vector.

show abstract

Risk Factors forMycobacterium ulceransInfection, Southeastern Australia

Abstract: Epidemiologic evidence shows that mosquitoes play a role in transmission to humans.

Cited by 106 publications

References 37 publications

Interaction of Mycobacterium ulcerans with Mosquito Species: Implications for Transmission and Trophic Relationships

Interaction of Mycobacterium ulcerans with Mosquito Species: Implications for Transmission and Trophic Relationships

Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms on the Road to Strain Differentiation in Mycobacterium ulcerans

A Cutaneous Ulcer Resulting from Mycobacterium ulcerans—Leishmania braziliensis Coinfection in South America

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About