{"id":34130,"date":"2026-07-23T15:12:49","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T19:12:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/?p=34130"},"modified":"2026-07-23T12:19:04","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T16:19:04","slug":"how-a-pandemic-detour-helped-researchers-uncover-clues-to-a-mysterious-disease","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/2026\/07\/how-a-pandemic-detour-helped-researchers-uncover-clues-to-a-mysterious-disease\/","title":{"rendered":"How a pandemic detour helped researchers uncover clues to a mysterious disease"},"content":{"rendered":"

EAST LANSING, Mich. \u2013 When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down international travel in 2020, Michigan State University researcher Eric Benbow<\/a> faced a problem.<\/p>\n

A $2.5 million research project designed to study an environmental pathogen in South America was suddenly on hold. With fieldwork canceled and uncertainty surrounding when travel might resume, Benbow and his collaborators needed a new plan.<\/p>\n

That unexpected detour led to a surprising discovery \u2014 and new insights into a disease that has puzzled scientists for decades.<\/p>\n

In a study published in Communications Medicine<\/em><\/a>,<\/em> an international team of researchers examined the environmental and human factors that influence the distribution of Buruli ulcer<\/a>, a neglected tropical disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium ulcerans. The work helps explain how ecosystems, climate, land use and human activities interact to shape disease risk.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople often think about infectious diseases in terms of person-to-person transmission,\u201d said Benbow, professor in the Department of Entomology in the College Agriculture and Natural Resources and in the Department of Osteopathic Medical Specialties in the College of Osteopathic Medicine. \u201cBut this pathogen lives in the environment. To understand the disease, we have to understand the ecosystem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Buruli ulcer is most common in parts of West and Central Africa and can cause severe skin ulcers, scarring and disability. Yet despite decades of study, scientists still do not fully understand how people become infected.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been called the \u2018mysterious disease\u2019 for decades because no one really knew how it was transmitted,\u201d Benbow said.<\/p>\n

Using hundreds of environmental variables, researchers identified patterns linking disease occurrence to factors such as flooding, land disturbance, agriculture, invasive plant species and climate conditions.<\/p>\n

The findings support a growing body of research showing that environmental change can influence where pathogens persist and where people are most likely to encounter them.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been taking a One Health approach to this disease for more than 15 years,\u201d Benbow said. \u201cYou can\u2019t separate human health from environmental health.\u201d<\/p>\n

The study also builds on an unexpected discovery made during the pandemic.<\/p>\n

Unable to travel to South America, Benbow\u2019s team shifted its attention to the southeastern United States after uncovering an old study suggesting the pathogen might exist there. Using newer molecular tools, the researchers sampled aquatic habitats across the region and confirmed the bacterium\u2019s presence.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe found it<\/a>,\u201d Benbow said.<\/p>\n

The researchers later found other areas in the U.S. that are favorable and, therefore, were able to expand the known environmental range of the pathogen. Combined with the study\u2019s global modeling results, the findings suggest that suitable environmental conditions for Mycobacterium ulcerans may exist in more places than previously recognized, even where human cases of Buruli ulcer have not been reported.<\/p>\n

That discovery aligned with the new global modeling work, which identified portions of the southeastern United States as environmentally suitable for the pathogen, despite no known locally acquired human cases of Buruli ulcer.<\/p>\n

The question now is why.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy are people getting the disease in some places and not others?\u201d Benbow said. \u201cThat\u2019s one of the major questions we\u2019re trying to answer.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the study focuses on Buruli ulcer, Benbow says the broader implications extend far beyond a single disease.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re using Buruli ulcer as a model system,\u201d he said. \u201cThe larger question is how environmental change influences disease risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

Researchers increasingly recognize that human health is connected to the health of ecosystems. Changes such as agricultural expansion, invasive species, urban growth, mining and shifting climate conditions can alter where pathogens persist, how they disperse and how people encounter them.<\/p>\n

By identifying the environmental conditions associated with disease-causing organisms, scientists can better anticipate future risks, improve surveillance efforts and help public health officials focus resources in areas where disease emergence may be more likely.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe goal isn\u2019t just to understand where a disease is today,\u201d Benbow said. \u201cIt\u2019s to understand the conditions that allow it to emerge so we can be better prepared for what\u2019s coming next. These pathogens don\u2019t suddenly appear out of nowhere. Many are already part of the natural environment. The challenge is understanding what conditions allow them to become a threat. When we alter landscapes, we can sometimes wake sleeping giants.\u201d<\/p>\n

The study included researchers from Michigan State University, Mississippi State University, the University of Montpellier and several international institutions.<\/p>\n

JOURNAL<\/h4>\n

Communications Medicine<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EAST LANSING, Mich. \u2013 When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down international travel in 2020, Michigan State University researcher Eric Benbow faced a problem. A $2.5 million research project designed to study an environmental pathogen in South America was suddenly on hold. With fieldwork canceled and uncertainty surrounding when travel might resume, Benbow and his collaborators… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":34114,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"no","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"off","neve_meta_content_width":70,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[572,10,1],"tags":[618,614,617,616,615,619],"class_list":["post-34130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environment","category-health","category-uncategorized","tag-africa","tag-pandemic","tag-pathogens","tag-transmission","tag-ulcers","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34130"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34130\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34131,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34130\/revisions\/34131"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}