Spatial relationship between arsenic in drinking water and Mycobacterium ulcerans infection in the Amansie West district, Ghana

Abstract

AbstractThis paper hypothesizes that arsenic in drinking water indirectly contributes to Buruli ulcer (BU), a skin disease caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans (MU) infection. Samples of groundwater and surface water used as drinking water by the population in Ghana's Amansie West district (part of which has a high prevalence of BU), were collected near rural settlements and analysed for arsenic. Arsenic concentration levels per settlement were compared with BU prevalence. A positive exposure-response relationship was obtained between arsenic in surface water and BU (r2 = 0.82). However, there is no significant exposure-response relation between groundwater and BU.