The WHO is to step up its efforts against Buruli ulcer, caused by the
flesh-eating bacterium Mycobacterium ulcerans. Every year thousands of
people in sub-Saharan Africa become infected after scratching themselves on
prickly vegetation.
The first symptom of infection is an itchy lump. If this is not removed,
gaping, gangrenous ulcers quickly form. The WHO says it wants to find a way to
tackle the disease in 1998. But Buruli ulcer expert John Grange of Imperial
College London, says the bacteria is everywhere in the environment so
eradicating it will be “extremely difficult”.
