Case report: A cutaneous ulcer resulting from Mycobacterium ulcerans -Leishmania braziliensis coinfection in South America

Abstract

Buruli ulcer is a tropical skin disease caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans. Its mode of transmission is not yet clearly understood. We report here a cutaneous ulcer in a European traveler in South America resulting from a coinfection detected specifically for Mycobacterium ulcerans and Leishmania braziliensis DNA with real-time polymerase chain reaction. This observation of a unique cutaneous ulcer raises the issue about possible modes of transmission of those two pathogens by the same vector. Copyright © 2011 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.