Mycobacterium ulcerans infection: an eponymous ulcer

To the editor: Bairnsdale ulcer is known by the eponyms Buruli in Uganda, Kakerifu in Zaire, Kumusi in New Guinea, and was formerly referred to as Searls’ ulcer in Australia. In the original 1948 article describing the causative organism,1 MacCallum and colleagues acknowledged assistance from Drs Alsop, Clay and Searls, in that (alphabetical) order. In sending material to Melbourne for examination, these doctors of the Bairnsdale Clinic described the ulcers, and also commented on the similarity of their appearance in the first three patients. J R Searls, after whom the ulcer was originally named, was regarded as an excellent general practitioner. He died in 1971.