Buruli ulcer spreading outside ‘hotspot’ coastal areas
Jump in cases recorded in Victoria this year as infections also emerge in urban and inland areas: CHO.
Doctors have been advised to look out for Buruli ulcer outside typical hotspot areas in Victoria, with health authorities warning that 238 cases had already been detected this year.
The state’s Chief Health Officer Dr Clare Looker said notifications of the necrotising skin disease in 2023 had already exceeded the 207 cases detected at the same time last year.
There were even fewer cases reported in previous years — 197 in 2021, and 135 in 2020.
Dr Looker said Buruli ulcer was also spreading geographically across the state and was “no longer restricted to specific coastal locations”.
