Buruli ulcer has officially spread to NSW after health authorities uncovered the first locally acquired case of the necrotising skin disease in the seaside town of Batemans Bay.

The surprise diagnosis sparked an investigation that turned up two historical cases in the same area going back to 2021, the local health district says.

“All three people are understood to have been infected locally and are the only local transmissions observed in NSW to date,” said April Roberts-Witteveen, Southern NSW Local Health District’s acting director of public health.

“Previous cases of Buruli ulcer in NSW have been diagnosed in people who had travelled to affected areas of Victoria or Queensland, so finding the infection in NSW in people who have not travelled is unusual.”