Bacteria behind melioidosis, a deadly tropical disease, found in US for 1st time:
The bacteria behind the potentially fatal disease melioidosis has been found in U.S. soil for the first time, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced (opens in new tab) Wednesday (July 27).
Historically, the bacteria, called Burkholderia pseudomallei, has been seen primarily in Southeast Asia and northern Australia, where most cases of melioidosis occur each year, although the bacteria can also be found in certain areas of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Central and South America. In an average year, only about 12 cases of melioidosis occur in the U.S., and these cases can usually be linked to international travel to a country where B. pseudomallei commonly grows, or to contaminated imported products. For example, in 2021, two people became ill, and two others died, after using an imported aromatherapy spray contaminated with the bacteria.
But now, health officials have detected the bacteria in soil and water samples collected from the Gulf Coast region of southern Mississippi.
"Once well-established in the soil, B. pseudomallei cannot feasibly be removed from the soil," the CDC stated in its health advisory. "Public health efforts should focus primarily on improving identification of cases so that appropriate treatment can be administered."
The CDC began testing Mississippi soil and water for B. pseudomallei after two unrelated individuals in the region fell ill with melioidosis, the disease caused by B. pseudomallei that can have a wide range of symptoms and is deadly in up to half of diagnosed cases worldwide. The melioidosis cases occurred two years apart, in July 2020 and May 2022, and neither person had traveled outside the U.S. prior to infection.
[...] People can become infected with B. pseudomallei when the bacteria come into contact with an open cut or abrasion on the skin. They can also become infected through inhaling contaminated water droplets or bits of dust, ingesting contaminated water droplets or eating food grown in contaminated soil.
