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Anything Goes => Kalusugan, Kakisigan at Kaayusan => Topic started by: mozart123 on September 23, 2017, 12:40:34 PM

Title: WILL THE FLESH-EATING BACTERIA SPREADING THROUGH AUSTRALIA COME TO THE U.S.?
Post by: mozart123 on September 23, 2017, 12:40:34 PM
Australia is facing a flesh-eating disease epidemic. What’s worse, health professionals don’t fully understand how it’s spread, according to infectious disease expert Daniel O’Brien, who works at the Royal Melbourne and Geelong hospitals in Victoria, Australia. Considering how little is known about the bacteria, Americans may be wondering if the microbe could spread to North America.

Several transmission routes are being investigated. “There are theories about transmission via mosquitoes, theories about it being in the soil and getting through wounds, theories about whether some animals are involved in that we know that some possums can be affected by it,” O’Brien told Australian national news service 9 News. “But we don’t actually know where it lives, why it’s there and how it gets spread to humans. How can we possibility halt an epidemic when we don’t have that basic information?”

Known as the Buruli ulcer, what begins as swelling (typically on the arms and legs) morphs into an open wound. Generally painless, the sores are caused by the Mycobacterium ulcerans bacteria, according to the Centers for Disease Control. While strong antibiotics are the go-to treatment, the mysterious disease isn’t always easily cleared up.

http://www.newsweek.com/buruli-ulcer-australia-flesh-eating-bacteria-come-us-669684?utm_campaign=NewsweekFacebookSF&utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Social