Victoria’s Buruli ulcer epidemic continues to spread, with a record 340 cases of the flesh-eating-ulcer recorded last year, including cases detected for the first time in metropolitan Melbourne.

Most of the cases had been confined to the Mornington and Bellarine peninsulas but the infection appears to be slowly making its way north towards the city.

Last year The Age reported that two infections had been confirmed in the western suburbs.

Twenty-eight cases have been detected across Victoria so far this year – up from 22 at the same time in 2018.