This week’s #NTDsMythBuster: we focus on #mycetoma.

World Health Organization states—#Mycetoma often starts as a painless swelling, causing patients to delay care until damage occurs.

#GANE urges early care-seeking, stronger detection, & integration of skin #NTDs into #WASH & primary healthcare.

This week’s #DeepDive is on #Mycetoma— an #NTD that continues to cause preventable disability in vulnerable communities.

According to the @WHO, mycetoma is a chronic, progressively destructive disease of the skin & underlying tissues caused by certain bacteria or fungi.

Great to have ~150 participants join our #COMSTECH-hosted webinar about the impact of the conflict in #Sudan on #malaria & #NTD control. Many thx to our excellent speakers for their talks on #Dengue, #vector control, #leishmania, #mycetoma & others.

Full recording ⏬️

youtu.be/jttvyhsupLY?...

#mycetoma mri to check extent of dz. small lesion treated w/surgery. Actinomycetoma tx w/ abx (AG or tmp-smx). Eumycetoma surgery+antifungal oral azole. Duration 6-24mo

#mycetoma enter via a thorn prick, wood splinter or stone cut. Occupational dz in rural areas, farmers & shepherds, or that engage in activities related to the environment. Walking bare feet. Mostly in men age 20-40. Dx: clinical & culture of grains

#mycetoma In Sudan 70% of cases identified as fungus Madurella mycetomatis. In Mexico & Brazil, actinomycetomas are more prevalent & Nocardia brasiliensis is the main etiologic agent.

#mycetoma highest incidence Sudan 🇸🇩 Venezuela 🇻🇪 Mexico 🇲🇽 and India 🇮🇳, but Sudan and Mexico have the highest number of cases reported. Organism can survive in short rainy seasons w/ little daily temp fluctuations f/b long dry seasons w/ broad daily temp 45-60ºC to 15-18ºC

#mycetoma medical history 1st described as ‘anthill foot’ in Atharva Veda.
-1842 Gill 1st cases in Madura (ancient city southern India)
-1860: Carter called mycetoma
-1913 div in 2 categories
-1956 Aboyy actinomycetoma (bacterial agents) and eumycetoma (fungal agents)

#mycetoma progression of disease is slow & painless, but may affect muscles, tendons, joints, fascia & bones. Skin can have wooden fibrotic induration due to dermal sclerosis.

Causative agent of #mycetoma varies by region & climate. Can be caused by fungi (eumycetoma) or bacteria (actinomycetoma)

Madura foot #mycetoma classic triad of painless soft tissue swelling, draining sinus tract & extrusion of grains

From research to community outreach, Senegal is stepping up the fight against #mycetoma. "Together with partners, we are helping strengthen surveillance, diagnosis & patient care for this neglected disease." - Prof Doudou Sow from UGBSN #CPHIA2025

Patients like Jennifer silently suffer from #mycetoma, a disease whose global burden is unknown.

@dndi.org and partners are working to reduce disease knowledge gaps & bolster international partnerships to establish transnational clinical studies bit.ly/45jOfet #beatNTDs

"We are working to bridge the knowledge gap on #mycetoma through epidemiological studies in Kenya, Senegal, Ethiopia and India. Lack of investment, research, access to diagnosis and treatment is contributing to the neglect," said
@bornanyaoke.bsky.social

"There is urgent need for shorter more effective treatments, proper diagnostics tests & point of care tests," said Prof. Ahmed Fahal.

For the last 33 years, the Mycetoma Research Centre
together with partners has been providing #mycetoma management, research & community engagement for patients.

"In many #mycetoma endemic countries, information on the disease burden is scanty, making it hard to achieve #UHC," said DrDaniel Ngamije.

@who.int remains committed to supporting countries & partners in integrating skin NTD interventions within primary health care systems. #beatNTDs #HealthForAll

Join us today for a high-level webinar on #Mycetoma, one of the most neglected #NTDs, co-hosted by WHO EMRO, the Mycetoma Research Center and DNDi.
🗓️ 16 July 2025
🕐 2–4PM Cairo (GMT+3)
🔗 Register here: who-e.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Join Dr Borna Nyaoke and Prof. Ahmed Fahal tomorrow 16 July, 2025 during the webinar on #mycetoma as they discuss how to advance research especially after the destruction of the Mycetoma Research Center in Sudan. #beatNTDs #EndTheNeglect

Register ➡️ bit.ly/3GDcL1Q
⏲️2:00 - 4:00PM Cairo Time (GMT+3)

Register for this upcoming webinar on #mycetoma with @who.int
📆 Wednesday 16 July, 2025
🕑 14:00 - 16:00PM (GMT+3)
🔗 Register here ➡️ bit.ly/3GDcL1Q

LEO Foundation partners with DNDi to develop breakthrough drug discovery model for mycetoma The LEO Foundation’s commitment of DKK 4,000,000 over three years will enable the development of a clinically relevant, skin-specific, dynamic model of fungal mycetoma to facilitate pre-clinical drug ...

🤝 We're excited to partner with the LEO Fondation, ErasmusMC & the University of Antwerp to develop a new method to advance treatment for fungal #mycetoma.
This tool could transform drug testing and speed up access to better, safer treatments.
Read more: bit.ly/4kGuOSY

#Mycetoma causes severe suffering but remains overlooked, under-researched & underfunded.
Join us & @who.int for a webinar on why advancing research & prevention is urgent, especially after the loss of Sudan’s Mycetoma Research Centre.
🗓️16.07
🕑2–4 PM GMT+3
Registration: who-e.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Iron tug-of-war: How a fungus builds its fortress against the immune system A study led by a global research consortium offers new hope for patients with mycetoma, a neglected tropical disease. Researchers using an insect model and transcriptome analysis have unraveled the…

How a #fungus builds its fortress against the immune system ...

| #fungi | #ImmuneSystem | #mycetoma | #transcriptome | Via @sciencex.bsky.social‬

Global health initiatives and mycetoma management: the unmet promise Global health initiatives have undeniably fuelled substantial progress in combating many neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). These efforts have been largel

#GlobalHealth initiatives have fuelled great progress in combating many #NTDs, but progress in #mycetoma management has been slow. We need targeted funding, improved diagnostics, and accessible treatments!
Read more: doi.org/10.1093/trst...
@rstmh.bsky.social

Science - Sudanese doctors on mission to rebuild Mycetoma Research Centre The war in Sudan has led to the total or partial destruction of clinics and hospitals, but health professionals are determined to rebuild what has been lost. Among them are scientists researching and…

The war in Sudan has led to the total or partial destruction of clinics & hospitals, including the Mycetoma Research Centre, the only research centre for #mycetoma.

Today, doctors are appealing for help to rebuild their centre. @france24.com #beatNTDs

Kenya : le mycétome, une maladie endémique pourtant encore négligée Le mycétome est une infection locale que l'on attrape notamment en marchant pieds nus sur des épines. Faute de diagnostic précoce ou de soins, l'amputation est souvent la seule option.

‘I can't work, I can't burn coal, I can't do anything. I depend on others to fetch me water and bring me food.’

Joyce had to undergo an amputation after getting #mycetoma.

@tv5monde.bsky.social MONDE reports from Kenya on the impacts that this very neglected disease have on people affected.

@dndi.org is grateful for the support over the years in drug discovery for sleeping sickness, leishmaniasis, chagas disease, dengue, advanced HIV disease, #mycetoma, and #schistosomiasis.
Looking forward to future collaborations! #EndtheNeglect

Burden of mycetoma in Burkina Faso: case series and systematic review Abstract. Mycetoma is a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by progressive and devastating granulomatous subcutaneous tissue involvement. It primari

New in #TRSTMH: Ouangré et al determine #BurkinaFaso’s burden of #mycetoma in this #SystematicReview

#GlobalHealth

academic.oup.com/trstmh/advan...

World’s only research centre for flesh-eating infection ransacked in Sudan Mycetoma Research Centre becomes yet another victim of the country’s civil war, in a ‘major blow’ for efforts to tackle the disease

⚠️ The #Mycetoma Research Centre in #Sudan, the only dedicated centre in the world for mycetoma research and treatment, has been completely destroyed due to the ongoing conflict in Khartoum.

👉 Read more: www.telegraph.co.uk/global-healt...

Sudan war destroys world's only research centre on skin disease mycetoma: director The world's only research centre on mycetoma, a neglected tropical disease common among farmers, has been destroyed in Sudan's two-year war, its director and another expert say.

The two-year long war in Sudan has devastated vital health infrastructure, including the Mycetoma Research Centre -a lifeline for #mycetoma patients.

Read more from France24 bit.ly/4iGhTiO #SudanCrisis

Sudan war destroys world’s oldest mycetoma research centre The Sudan war has destroyed the world’s oldest mycetoma research centre in Khartoum, wiping out over 40 years of critical medical data.

The #Sudan war has destroyed the world’s oldest #mycetoma research centre (MRC) in #Khartoum, wiping out over 40 yrs of critical medical data.
Mycetoma is a progressively destructive infectious disease that can affect skin, muscle, and even bone.
www.newarab.com/news/sudan-w...