Potentially lethal bacteria detected in US soil - CDC

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
28 Jul 2022 10:50

Public health officials in Mississippi's Gulf Coast region are recommending that at-risk households take extra precautions after an investigation revealed deadly bacteria thriving in the soil.

CDC warns of potentially deadly bacteria detected in US soil.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a warning on Wednesday after a potentially fatal microbe was discovered near the houses of two people who became ill and were hospitalized.

According to the CDC's health alert, this is the first time the bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei has been found in water and soil samples in the United States. "This bacterium causes melioidosis, an uncommon and dangerous disease," according to the CDC.

Melioidosis, also known as Whitmore's illness, is "extremely endemic" in Thailand and northern Australia, but the CDC adds that most healthy persons who come into contact with the bacterium do not develop the condition.

"The most common underlying conditions that make a person more likely to become sick with or die from melioidosis include diabetes, excessive alcohol use, chronic lung disease, chronic kidney disease, and immunosuppressive conditions," per the CDC. "Worldwide, 10-50% of melioidosis cases result in death."

The CDC stated that health officials initiated an investigation when two residents in Gulf Coast districts of southern Mississippi that didn't know each other but lived near one another were diagnosed with melioidosis in July 2020 and May 2022, respectively.

"Genomic sequencing data revealed the two patients were infected by the same novel strain from the Western Hemisphere," the CDC said. "Both patients were hospitalized with sepsis due to pneumonia and had known risk factors for melioidosis."

Following antibiotic therapy, the two residents have recovered.

"Melioidosis is an opportunistic infection, with disease developing after only one of every 4,600 exposures," according to a 2019 study that noted the disease was estimated to kill almost 90,000 people globally every year.

"In Southeast Asia ... the in-hospital mortality exceeds 40%," but in Australia's tropical north "early recognition and access to high-quality intensive care unit (ICU) support in the country’s well-resourced health system have reduced the disease’s case fatality rate to approximately 10%," the study notes.