The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the United States issued a health alert to doctors on Wednesday after discovering for the first time in the continental territory of the country the bacteria that is behind a rare and serious disease.
Following an investigation of two cases of human melioidosis, the bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei (B. pseudomallei) was detected in soil and puddle water samples from the Gulf Coast region of southern Mississippi.
Contagion
The two unrelated people lived very close geographically and were infected two years apart, in 2020 and 2022, which led health authorities to investigate household products and the environment of their homes.
Melioidosis causes fever, joint pain, and headaches, as well as pneumonia, abscess formation, and blood infections.
In the United States, there are an average of 12 cases a year, most related to travel to tropical and subtropical regions, where the bacteria is endemic.
A group from 2021 that included four people from four states was linked to an imported contaminated aromatherapy spray.
