Grim health warning after flesh-eating disease found in NSW beach town suspected to be spread by possums

A gruesome disease that can cause severe disfigurement has spread and taken root in a popular NSW beach town, with researchers determining it is likely spread by possums.

Two cases of the Buruli ulcer disease, which damages skin and soft tissue, have been detected in Batemans Bay and researchers with the journal Neglected Tropical Diseases suspect the infections were locally acquired, meaning the disease is now likely entrenched in the area.

In one case, a 94-year-old man suffered a swollen, wounded finger after being infected.

In another, a 71-year-old man suffered an ulcer on his right arm that expanded to 4x4cm in size.

Examination of sample tissue from both patients revealed the presence of the “M. ulcerans” disease, the researchers said.

It is thought the disease may have spread to humans from possum excrement and mosquitoes in the surrounding bushland.

“M. ulcerans has been detected in the scat of possums at locations where human cases of the disease have been reported previously,” the researchers said.

“Both ringtail and brushtail possums are susceptible to natural infections, which result in skin ulcerations, and both may excrete M. ulcerans in high concentration in their faeces.

“The detection of positive possum excreta samples from Batemans Bay establishes beyond doubt that M. ulcerans is present in local possums.

“Larger, more systematic surveys will be required to examine the extent of possum involvement and to monitor change over time.”

Buruli ulcer has been detected in parts of central and west Africa, Japan and Australia.

Before Batemans Bay, the disease was found in Eden in NSW, and Victoria.

“In Australia, Buruli ulcer has been increasingly reported in urban areas of Victoria, where the infection has become a significant public health issue following the initial appearance of a small number of localised coastal outbreaks,” the researchers said.

“The reservoir and mode of transmission of M. ulcerans have remained mysterious but in Victoria, there is now evidence that Buruli ulcer is a zoonosis, with native possums as the key reservoir and mosquitoes as an important vector for transmission to humans.

“Whether the zoonosis and insect transmission paradigm applies in other endemic regions, particularly Africa, has yet to be determined.”

It is believed the infection is not spread human-to-human.

The researchers warned the Batemans Bay cases could be a “harbinger” of a “disease expansion” in NSW similar to Victoria.

Victoria’s Health Department has recorded between 200 to 340 cases of Buruli infections each year from 2017.