Australia to spend more money to stop spread of flesh-eating ulcers

CANBERRA, April 26 (Xinhua) -- The Australian government has committed an extra 1.5 million Australian dollars (1.13 million U.S. dollars) to prevent the spread of flesh-eating ulcers.

Greg Hunt, Australia's minister for health, announced the funding to stop the spread of the Buruli ulcer in Victoria and Queensland on Thursday.

Commonly found in west or central Africa and usually associated with stagnant water, the tissue-destroying Buruli ulcer can cause permanent disability and deformity if not treated properly.

In Victoria, the number of diagnosed cases of the ulcer has soared with 182 cases in 2016 and 275 in 2017, with experts warning it could affect thousands in the state each year.

The government money will fund a two-year study by the University of Melbourne's Tim Stinear who previously discovered the key role mosquitoes have in transmitting the disease.

Stinear's study will begin with a cull of mosquitoes in coastal Victorian areas.

The federal government funding has been matched by the Victorian government with two local councils also contributing to the research.

"This is a horrible and painful medical condition and research is vital to get to the bottom of this new health challenge," Hunt told the Guardian Australia on Thursday.

"My hope is that research will eventually identify a common source of the cause of this type of bacterium, which will lead to faster diagnoses, treatment and prevention strategies."

The bacterium responsible for Buruli ulcers developing belongs to the same family as those that cause tuberculosis and leprosy.

If diagnosed early, an eight-week course of antibiotics has been found to be effective in treating the condition in 80 percent of patients. Enditem