CDC alerts clinicians after finding bacterium that causes melioidosis in Gulf Coast
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For the first time, the CDC has identified the bacterium that causes melioidosis in domestic environmental samples in the Gulf Coast region of Mississippi.
The agency is alerting health care providers across the United States to be aware of signs of the disease and the potential for more cases.
Melioidosis is a rare and serious disease caused by the bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei, which is found in contaminated water and soil, according to a CDC press release. Only about 12 cases are diagnosed in the U.S. every year, most in patients who traveled to a country where the bacterium is endemic. A cluster of melioidosis cases identified in the U.S. in 2021 was linked to an aromatherapy spray that was imported from a disease-endemic country and sold at Walmart.
When two unrelated individuals who both live near the Gulf Coast region were sickened with melioidosis in 2020 and 2022, the CDC and state health officials decided to investigate, taking samples and testing soil, water and household products in both patients’ homes.
Of the samples taken from puddle water and soil in 2022, three tested positive for B. pseudomallei, “indicating bacteria from the environment was the likely source of infection for both individuals and has been present in the area since at least 2020,” according to the CDC.
The disease, which is fatal in 10% to 50% of cases, “has a wide range of nonspecific symptoms like fever, joint pain and headaches and can cause conditions that include pneumonia, abscess formation or blood infections,” according to the press release. With the few cases that have been identified in the U.S., the CDC said that it “believes the risk of melioidosis for the general population continues to be very low.”
However, the agency is still notifying providers across the country via a national health advisory to remind them of the signs and symptoms and suggest they consider melioidosis in patients who present with the symptoms. People in the Gulf Coast who have health conditions like chronic kidney or lung disease, diabetes and excessive alcohol use may be at higher risk. Therefore, the CDC urges them to take precautions like:
- wear gloves when working with soil;
- wear waterproof boots when doing yard work and gardening, especially after storms or flooding; and
- protect open wounds with waterproof dressings and avoid contact with muddy water or soil, especially after heavy rains.
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