REHABILITATION
Buruil Ulcer is an emerging infectious disease in many tropical and sub-tropical countries in Africa. Although vectors and modes of transmission remain unknown, it is hypothesized that the transmission of Buruli Ulcer disease is associated with human activities in or around aquatic environments, and that characteristics of the landscape (e.g., land use/cover) play a role in mediating Buruli Ulcer disease. The disease is associated with land use/cover characteristics, either through spatial constraints on vector-host dynamics or by mediating human activities, then large-scale (i.e., country-wide) associations should also emerge.
Buruli ulcer is a chronic, indolent, necrotizing disease of the skin. It manifests initially as firm, non tender, subcutaneous nodules 1-2 cm in diameter at the sites of penetrating skin trauma (preulcerative stage). Within the next 1-2 months, these areas become fluctuant, followed by the formation of a painless, undermined ulceration (ulcerative stage.) Ulcerations can be extensive, involving as much as 15% of the patient's skin surface. The infection may destroy nerves, appendages, and blood vessels, and it occasionally invades bone. Most lesions eventually heal spontaneously, but they frequently result in chronic lymphedema and disfiguring scarring.
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