DETECTION OF MYCOBACTERIUM-ULCERANS IN ENVIRONMENTAL-SAMPLES DURING AN OUTBREAK OF ULCERATIVE DISEASE

Mycobacterium ulcerans is an environmental bacterium which causes chro nic skin ulcers. Despite significant epidemiological evidence to sugge st that water is the source of infection, the organism has never been identified in the environment. Environmental water samples were collec ted from a small town in which an outbreak of 29 cases had occurred in a 3-year period. These were examined by mycobacterial culture and PCR amplification. Similar to previous studies, M. ulcerans was not cultu red from the water samples. However, five samples were positive for M. ulcerans by PCR. These samples were collected from a swamp and a golf course irrigation system within the outbreak area. This is the first time that M. ulcerans has been demonstrated to be present in the envir onment and supports the postulated epidemiology of disease due to this organism.