Environmental Transmission of Mycobacterium Ulcerans Drives Dynamics of Buruli Ulcer in Endemic Regions of Cameroon

Overview

Journal Sci Rep

Specialty Science

Date 2015 Dec 15

PMID 26658922

Citations 12

Authors

Andres Garchitorena

Calistus N Ngonghala

Gaetan Texier

Jordi Landier

Sara Eyangoh

Matthew H Bonds

Jean-Francois Guegan

Benjamin Roche

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Buruli Ulcer is a devastating skin disease caused by the pathogen Mycobacterium ulcerans. Emergence and distribution of Buruli ulcer cases is clearly linked to aquatic ecosystems, but the specific route of transmission of M. ulcerans to humans remains unclear. Relying on the most detailed field data in space and time on M. ulcerans and Buruli ulcer available today, we assess the relative contribution of two potential transmission routes--environmental and water bug transmission--to the dynamics of Buruli ulcer in two endemic regions of Cameroon. The temporal dynamics of Buruli ulcer incidence are explained by estimating rates of different routes of transmission in mathematical models. Independently, we also estimate statistical models of the different transmission pathways on the spatial distribution of Buruli ulcer. The results of these two independent approaches are corroborative and suggest that environmental transmission pathways explain the temporal and spatial patterns of Buruli ulcer in our endemic areas better than the water bug transmission.

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