Statistical modeling based of Australian native possum excreta identifies locations of Buruli ulcer occurrence in humans eLife UniMelb possum excreta buruliulcer transmission zoonosis zoonotic
By Neha MathurMay 25 2023Reviewed by Lily Ramsey, LLM In a recent article published in the eLife Journal, researchers launched a possum excreta surveillance program across 350 km2 in the Mornington Peninsula near South Melbourne, Australia.
Background Earlier, BU, a bacterial infection of subcutaneous tissues by Mycobacterium ulcerans, commonly occurred in rural Central and Western Africa with a tropical and subtropical climate, which caused lifelong deformities in patients. Thus, arboreal marsupial mammals appear to be the environmental reservoir for M. ulcerans in Australia, which makes BU a One Health issue.
Specifically, they extracted microbial genomic DNA from these samples for testing via M. ulcerans IS2404 real-time polymerase chain reaction . This app converted paper survey forms into electronic forms containing all survey questions. All surveyors answered these promptly during sampling, and their phones automatically sent their responses to an ODK Aggregate running in the cloud, from where the team exported it into a tabular or a geographical format.
Since 2004, the Victorian DH has collected enhanced BU surveillance data in a centralized notifiable disease database. The DH geocoded and de-identified this data to create mesh blocks encompassing 30-60 dwellings and ensured it anonymized this data effectively for this study. Results As expected, the authors noted a spatial association between M. ulcerans-positive possum excreta clusters and human BU case clusters, as assessed by SaTScan, aligning with the exposure interval of the excreta possum surveys.
Likewise, models using the Geelong excreta data correctly predicted mesh blocks with human BU cases than a null model that used last year's data of BU occurrences.
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