Flesh eating Buruli Bacterial Toxin in Australia

Proposal to use Oral bait tuberculosis vaccines on native Possums

Watch out for Mozzies breeding in current humid weather.

Victoria had confirmed 347 cases of Buruli Ulcer reported to 17 December 2024.¹

Cases have been reported Melbourne, Geelong, all along the Mornington and the Bellarine Peninsulas.

Buruli is described as endemic in Batemans Bay in New South Wales, with cases spreading in that state.

Researchers have shown mosquitos have carried the flesh-eating bacteria from possums to humans.

Ulcers develop when Mycobacterium ulcerans Gram-positive bacteria, discovered by Australian scientists, release a toxin that eats away at the skin and subcutaneous soft tissue.²

Mycobacterium ulcerans has evolved and acquired 174 kilobase Plasmid, termed "pMUM001", which is involved in the production of the toxin Mycolactone, which has 5 structural variants.³

In 2023 researchers in Utah reported that Mycolactone isomer B is more cytotoxic.⁴

According to the 2011 Australian Drinking Water Guidelines⁵

Atypical Mycobacterium spp can cause a range of diseases involving the skeleton, lymph nodes, skin and soft tissues, as well as the respiratory, gastrointestinal and genitourinary tracts. Manifestations include pulmonary disease, skin ulcers (e.g., Buruli and Bairnsdale ulcers), osteomyelitis and septic arthritis in people with no known predisposing factors. Mycobacteria are a major cause of disseminated infections in people who are immunocompromised and are a common cause of death in people who are HIV-positive.

Chocolate Flavoured Baits for Possums

In 2023 it was proposed to use Tuberculosis baits as “vaccines” for possums.⁶

A paper published in Nature tells the story of Possum > Mosquito > Human transmission.⁷

Buruli Toxin is studied by US as a Bioweapon

Fascinating what can be found.⁸ In 2019 the US Government told the UN that Mycolactone was being actively researched as a Bioweapon under NIH Division of Intramural Research component of NIAID together with Belgium, Finland and France.

Beware Blood Sucking Parasites

That includes Snake Oil vendors.

1. Kate Aubusson. 17 December 2024. Flesh-eating ulcer ‘endemic’ in coastal town with ‘significant risk’ of spread to Sydney. Sydney Morning Herald.

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycobacterium_ulcerans

3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycolactone

4. John D. M. Nguyen, Gabriel C. A. da Hora and Jessica M. J. Swanson. 2023. Mycolactone A vs. B: Multiscale Simulations Reveal the Roles of Localization and Association in Isomer-Specific Toxicity. Toxins 15(8)486. https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6651/15/8/486

5. NHMRC. 2011. National Water Quality Management Strategy. Australian Drinking Water Guidelines 6

6. Henrietta Cook and Aisha Dow. 21 October 2023. The unusual vaccination plan to halt ‘out of control’ flesh-eating disease. The Age.

7. Peter T. Mee, Andrew H. Buultjens, Jane Oliver, Karen Brown, Jodie C. Crowder, Jessica L. Porter, Emma C. Hobbs, Louise M. Judd, George Taiaroa, Natsuda Puttharak, Deborah A. Williamson, Kim R. Blasdell, Ee Laine Tay, Rebecca Feldman, Mutizwa Odwell Muzari, Chris Sanders, Stuart Larsen, Simon R. Crouch, Paul D. R. Johnson, John R. Wallace 10, David J. Price, Ary A. Hoffmann, Katherine B. Gibney, Timothy P. Stinear and Stacey E. Lynch. Fbruary 2024. Mosquitoes provide a transmission route between possums and humans for Buruli ulcer in southeastern Australia. Nature Microbiology. 9:377–389.

8. Jean-David Morel, Anja O. Paatero, Jiajie Wei, Jonathan W. Yewdell, Laure Guenin-Mace, Delphi Van Haver, Francis Impens, Natalia Pietrosemoli, Ville O. Paavilainen, and Caroline Demangel. 2018. Proteomics Reveals Scope of Mycolactone-mediated Sec61 Blockade and Distinctive Stress Signature. Molecular & cellular proteomics. MCP. 17(9):1750-65.