Cutaneous Disease: Buruli ulcer

Buruli ulcer (BU), caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans, is an indolent necrotizing disease of the skin, subcutaneous tissue, and bone. Buruli ulcer is presently the third most common mycobacterial disease of humans, after tuberculosis and leprosy, and the least understood of the three. Cutaneous ulcers caused by M. ulcerans were discovered at nearly the same time in two antipodal regions: in 1937 in Southeast Australia and in 1942 in tropical Africa.