Popping a pimple nearly cost a man his leg after a gardening infection

However, it did - he had contracted a rare infectious disease from his garden. Thankfully though, the dire warning that he might lose his leg did not come to pass.

While gardening at home in Brimbin, near Taree on NSW's Mid North Coast, in mid-December 2024, Richard noticed a pimple on his lower leg and popped it. He went inside, put Betadine on it, covered it with a bandaid, and went about his business.

A few days later, it had turned into an open wound, and Richard went for a swim at the beach, hoping seawater would help clean it up.

Within a week the wound had grown to the size of a 20 cent coin. Then, what looked like a black boil appeared near Richard's knee.

"Then it just opened up and I went, 'oh, something's not right here,' so I went to the doctor," Richard said.

The doctor didn't know what it was, prescribed Richard antibiotics, and told him to come back in a week.

Before the week was up, Richard decided he should return to the doctor earlier, as the wound had started to spread further along his shin. The doctor prescribed more antibiotics and sent Richard to the emergency department at Manning Base Hospital, where they hooked him up for intravenous antibiotics plus booster injections.

What followed was more visits to the hospital as the wound kept spreading and opening up, daily visits from community nurses for wound care, and finally a visit to the wound specialist at the hospital, who put him on yet more antibiotics plus steroids.

"I'd have to take painkillers so whenever they changed my bandages, they'd have to give it a clean and touch it. And that was pretty traumatic," Richard said.

It was a miserable, painful time for Richard, who could now no longer work.

By late January, the specialist took a punch biopsy of the wound, thinking it was Pyoderma gangrenosum, however the biopsy did not reveal anything.

Richard was referred to Dr Robert Pickles, the director of the Infectious Diseases Department at John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle, who set up an appointment for him immediately upon seeing the photographs he had been sent of Richard's leg. Richard was also sent to see a dermatologist at John Hunter.

It took six weeks for the results of a further biopsy to return, and the result was a surprise - rose gardener's disease (sporotrichosis) a fungal infection caused by Sporothrix schenckii, found in tropical and sub-tropical regions.

After seven months of the wound getting worse and worse, Richard's leg finally started to slowly heal after he started taking anti-fungal medication and high doses of steroids.

"By August it was slowly closing and starting to scar. At one stage there they thought I was going to have to have a skin graft," Richard said.

Richard has only just stopped taking medication. He keeps the lower leg covered by a sleeve, as well as wearing long pants, no matter how hot the weather.

Sporotrichosis got its common name "rose gardener's disease" as the fungus can be found on rosebushes. It can thrive in decaying garden matter and wood, mouldy hay, sphagnum moss and mulch-rich soil.

Richard does not know exactly where he would have contracted the disease from, but suspects it is mulch that was sourced from the tip.

The fungus can cause skin infections by entering open wounds, such as in Richard's case, however, it can also enter the lymphatic system and lungs, which can turn life-threatening. .

It can also be spread zoonotically through cats, however that is mostly the case in South America.

Senior lecturer in microbiology at Western Sydney University, Tom Jeffries, said it is unusual for cases to be seen this far south.

"It's sort of endemic in subtropical regions, but it's not particularly common in Australia, at least in the serious form," Mr Jeffries said.

However, Mr Jeffries said its range is expanding.

"That's also in line with what we're seeing with a lot of like tropical diseases is because of climate change," he said.

"I think Brazil's the main country that has issues with [sporotrichosis]."

Mr Jeffries said the World Health Organisation reports it happens more in the developing world, and in Australia, it's not particularly dangerous.

"Eighty-five percent of cases are easily cured, if you're diagnosed [early] and take anti-fungal medication."

If you have open wounds or cuts, cover them up before gardening, or baling hay.

Wear gloves, long pants and long sleeves when touching plant and gardening matter, and to avoid being pricked by rose bushes or other prickly bushes, and to further protect any open skin.

Avoid contact with cats that open wounds or sores.

If you have any open wounds that are not healing, contact your GP immediately.