Flesh-eating bacteria now spreading through Melbourne suburbs
Buruli ulcer, a rare flesh-eating infection spread by mosquitoes, is appearing in new Australian areas including Melbourne's inner suburbs.
Buruli ulcer starts as a small, painless bump after a mosquito bite. Weeks later it becomes a disfiguring ulcer.
It eats into skin and muscle. The bacterium Mycobacterium ulcerans causes this condition.
Antibiotics treat it, but healing takes months. Victoria recorded 426 cases in 2025 alone.
Most came from coastal regions. But cases are now appearing in suburbs like Essendon, Brunswick West and Moonee Ponds.
The Australian backyard mosquito spreads it. It breeds in water-filled containers.
Warmer weather and El Niño conditions will likely bring mosquitoes earlier than usual. This expands the risk.
Preventing mosquito bites remains the best defence.
- 426
- Victoria cases in 2025
- Eight weeks
- Antibiotic treatment duration
- More than four months
- Healing time
- Aedes notoscriptus
- Spreading mosquito species
Why it mattersCatching Buruli ulcer early makes treatment easier, and knowing where it's spreading helps you avoid mosquito bites in affected areas.
AustraliaVictoria's spike suggests the infection is expanding across Australia. People in Melbourne's northern suburbs and other warm regions should take mosquito precautions seriously this summer.
✓ Claims checked against the source. checked 2 d ago
