SCIENTIST warned that Buruli ulcer, a disfiguring skin condition mostly affecting regions of Australia and Africa, is on the rise down under.
The bacteria that cause Buruli ulcer is called Mycobacterium ulcerans and can affect skin and bones.
Antibiotics can speed up the full recovery of ulcers but untreated cases can result in scarring, long-term deformity, and disability.
Experts believe that the native possums of Australia, such as the common ringtail also get ulcers, pass the bacteria in their feces, and spread it to humans.
Skin disease can affect other animals besides humans.
Cases of Buruli cancer are on the rise in Victoria and other tropical areas in Australia and have been consistently recorded in the Australian State for more than two decades.
Experts warned Buruli ulcer is now becoming more common in Australia from a handful of cases that first emerged in Victoria in 1948.
