The disease is rarely transmitted from patient to patient. Treatment with antibiotics has been unsuccessful to date. Current treatment is surgical excision, which then demands the skin be closed, most often using skin grafts. The young lad in the lower right of this picture had the ulcer excised in his stomach area, and is recovering. Rifampin promotes healing of pre-ulcerative lesions or early ulcers but is often not effective for extensive lesions.
Appropriate physiotherapy is important when contracture deformities are likely to develop.
All in all, treatment requires long hospitalizations and is very expensive for those most afflicted. HIV infection is not a known risk factor. Ghana's ministry of Health, in conjunction with the US Centre for Disease Control, is researching into the mode of transmission of Buruli ulcer and how to prevent it. Ghana has become a center for research and control activities for this disease. Various tests have been conducted by the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research in Accra, whose entry is shown here, and counterpart institutions in the US to establish whether or not the disease is waterborne.