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Introduction
Buruli ulcer is the third most common mycobacteriosis of humans, after tuberculosis and leprosy. Although BU has been known for at least a century, the etiologic agent was first isolated in 1948 by MacCallum from a patient in Australia. Mycobacterium ulcerans is a slow-growing environmental mycobacterium that grows optimally at 32°C. The organism infects skin and subcutaneous tissue and often bone, and produces a potent tissue necrotizing toxin called mycolactone. Most patients who are not treated early suffer cosmetic and/or functional disabilities. The photograph (left) shows a Congolese woman who lost her eye from major ulcerative BU.
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