Fears flesh-eating bug will spread to Sydney after becoming ‘endemic’ in Batemans Bay

A flesh-eating bug has become ‘endemic’ in one coastal town with fears growing that it will spread to Sydney.

Fears are growing that a flesh-eating ulcer will spread up the New South Wales coast to Sydney after two cases were linked in a popular holiday hotspot.

Experts say Batemans Bay has become an endemic centre for the Buruli ulcer after the cases were genetically linked to an earlier infection in another town in New South Wales.

Victoria has been blighted by the Buruli ulcer for years with 347 cases confirmed in 2024 alone.

Batemans Bay could become a hotspot for the Buruli ulcer, experts fear. (iStock)

Up until now New South Wales has been a safe haven from the bug, but this could be about to change.

Infectious disease experts believe that flesh-eating bacteria has been transferred from possums to humans, which is what also happened in Victoria.

The bacteria has an incubation period of around five months so it can be a long time before patients develop an symptoms.

When they do develop the ulcers release a bacterium that releases a toxin which eats flesh, leaving a gaping sore.

The two cases in Batemans Bay in 2023 were a 94-year-old man, who developed an ulcer on his finger, and a 71-year-old man whose developed an ulcer on his arm, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

The Buruli ulcer is transmitted by mosquitoes. (iStock)

In a medical journal called PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases experts said Batemans Bay was

“a new endemic focus of human Buruli ulcer transmission”.

“This risk for further spread along coastal NSW is significant,” they said.

Researchers fear that the Buruli ulcer could reach Sydney after it spread in a similar fashion from coastal towns in Victoria to Melbourne, Geelong and to the Mornington Peninsula.

The researchers’ concern comes despite there being no locally acquired cases in New South Wales since 2023.

“This risk for further spread along coastal NSW is significant,” they warned.

Genomic testing showed the two cases in Batemans Bay were identical and related to a case in Eden.

In order to protect against Buruli ulcers residents should take precautions not get bitten by mosquitoes.

Buruli ulcers can be effectively treated with antibiotics.

Originally published as Fears flesh-eating bug will spread to Sydney after becoming ‘endemic’ in Batemans Bay