07 Oct 2020
Beating Buruli project receives $1.5 million funding boost
Victoria’s Beating Buruli Project has secured a $1.5 million National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Partnership Project Grant to continue its world-first transmission intervention study into the flesh eating bacterium.
Cases of Mycobacterium ulcerans infection, or Buruli ulcer as its more commonly known, have been increasing exponentially on the Bellarine and Mornington Peninsulas in recent years, with 299 cases recorded in 2019.
While it’s not yet known how humans become infected with Buruli ulcer or where in the environment the bacteria prefer to live, growing evidence suggests possums and mosquitoes play a role in transmission.
The project is led by the Doherty Institute in collaboration with Austin Health, Barwon Health, Agriculture Victoria, the University of Melbourne, Mornington Peninsula Shire, Frankston City and Bayside City Councils, and the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).
Chief Investigator for the project, University of Melbourne Professor Tim Stinear, said they were pleased to be able to continue to understand how this infection is spread, and to identify ways to intervene to reduce infections.
“The Beating Buruli project aims to produce lab and field evidence to stop the spread of this destructive infection. Modelling suggests we could experience hundreds of new infections a year, and the epidemic could last 10 to 20 years,” Professor Stinear said.
“Our work to this point has shown that ringtail and brushtail possums are reservoirs of Mycobacterium ulcerans and that mosquitos likely spread the bacteria to humans – but we need to know more about the possible interaction between possums and mosquitos.”
Over a three-year project, the team aims to reduce mosquitos in Buruli ulcer endemic areas, investigate the role of mosquitos in transmission, conduct possum tracking and sampling, and develop a forecasting model for transmission to guide surveillance and control.
“Our mosquito reduction strategy includes trapping, larviciding in street drains or septic systems in Council-owned public areas and participating households, and providing information for residents on how to support mosquito source reduction,” Professor Stinear explained.