Read more about this disease, some with Classification – Types – Signs and symptoms – Genetics – Pathophysiology – Diagnosis – Screening – Prevention – Treatment and management – Cures and much more, some including pictures and video when available.
Melioidosis (also called Whitmore disease or Nightcliff gardener’s disease) is an infectious disease caused by a Gram-negative bacterium, Burkholderia pseudomallei, found in soil and water. It is of public health importance in endemic areas, particularly in Thailand and northern Australia. It exists in acute and chronic forms.
The causative organism, Burkholderia pseudomallei, was thought to be a member of the Pseudomonas genus and was previously known as Pseudomonas pseudomallei. This organism is phylogenetically related closely to Burkholderia mallei, the organism that causes glanders.
Melioidosis is endemic in parts of the world of south east Asia (including Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Burma and Vietnam) and northern Australia.[1][2] Multiple cases have also been described in southern China and Hong Kong, Brunei, Taiwan[3], India, and Laos, and sporadic cases in Central and South America, the Middle East, the Pacific and several African countries. Although only one case of melioidosis has ever been reported in Bangladesh,[4] at least five cases have been imported to the UK from that country, which suggests that melioidosis is endemic to that country and that there is a serious problem of underdiagnosis or under-reporting,[5] most likely due to a lack of adequate laboratory facilities.
In northeast Thailand, 80% of children are positive for antibodies against B. pseudomallei by the age of 4;[6] the figures are lower in other parts of the world.[7][8][9][10]
Melioidosis is a recognised disease in animals such as goats, sheep, and horses. Cattle, water buffalo, and crocodiles are considered to be relatively resistant to melioidosis despite their constant exposure to mud.[11] An outbreak at the Paris Zoo in the 1970s (“L’affaire du jardin des plantes”) was thought to have originated from an imported panda.[12]
Burkholderia pseudomallei is normally found in soil and surface water; a history of contact with soil or surface water is therefore almost invariable in patients with melioidosis;[1] that said, the majority of patients who do have contact with infected soil suffer no ill effects. The single most important risk factor for developing severe melioidosis is diabetes mellitus. Other risk factors include thalassaemia, kidney disease, and occupation (rice paddy farmers).[13] The mode of infection is believed to be either through a break in the skin, or through the inhalation of aerosolized B. pseudomallei.
There is a clear association with increased rainfall: with the number (and severity) of cases increasing following increased precipitation.[14][15][16][17]
[tubepress mode=’tag’, tagValue=’Melioidosis’]