Because Australia doesn't have enough things that can F you up!!!!

Flesh-eating ulcer ‘epidemic’ hits parts of Australia. Scientists don’t have answers.

The spread of a flesh-eating ulcer in parts of Australia is being described as a “rapidly worsening epidemic” and, to make matters worse, researchers say they don’t know exactly where it comes from or how it is transmitted.

Known as Buruli ulcer, the infectious disease initially appears as a small, red lump that closely resembles a pimple or insect bite, Daniel O’Brien, deputy director of the department of infectious diseases at Barwon Health in Victoria, told The Washington Post. If left untreated the lump can gradually enlarge and within weeks cause “severe destructive lesions of skin and soft tissue,” he said. Anyone is susceptible to the disease, which usually infects a person’s arms or legs, he said.

Compared with other types of flesh-eating bacteria, such as necrotizing fasciitis, Buruli ulcer is not the “most aggressive,” O’Brien said, but the disease can sometimes “eat away one limb or a large part of a limb.” The ulcer can even affect bones, leading to permanent disfigurement and long-term disability, according to the World Health Organization. Severe cases often require extensive reconstructive surgery and lengthy recovery.

Buruli ulcer can be treated using a combination of antibiotic regimens, with cure rates approaching 100 percent, according to the article. However, most people do not even know they have been infected since it can take up to six months for symptoms to show, O’Brien said. The disease, which is from the same family as leprosy and tuberculosis, is caused by a bacteria known as Mycobacterium ulcerans, he said.

There are many mysteries surrounding the disease’s rapid spread in Australia, especially since the number of reported cases around the world is decreasing, O’Brien said.

To start, Buruli ulcer is defined as a tropical disease, but the region of Victoria has a temperate climate, O’Brien said. Even though the disease was first recognized in Victoria in 1948, a majority of cases have since been found in areas such as Africa, South America and New Guinea, he said.

Scientists also do not know how people contract the disease or where it lives in the environment.