A potentially deadly bacteria was found in water and soil samples for the first time in the United States, prompting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday to alert doctors and public health experts across the country to take it into account when examining patients. inspired to.
The bacterium, Burkholderia pseudomallei, was found in the Gulf Coast region of southern Mississippi. According to the CDC, exposure to the bacteria can cause melioidosis, a “rare and serious illness”; According to a 2019 study, the disease is found in one out of every 4,600 people. The study also found that approximately 90,000 people die from melioidosis annually.
“Once well established in the soil, B. pseudomallei cannot be removed from the soil,” the CDC writes in its health advisory. “Public health efforts should primarily focus on improving the detection of cases so that appropriate treatment can be administered.”
Samples show that the bacteria has been present in the Mississippi region since at least 2020, when a person in the Gulf Coast region was found to have melioidosis, although it is not clear how long Burkholderia pseudomallei, also known as B. is from. stayed in the area.
The bacteria have previously been found in regions with tropical and subtropical climates around the world, such as parts of South and Southeast Asia, northern Australia and Central and South America. The CDC said modeling showed that southern Mississippi’s climate was also favorable for growing it.
Two patients were obtained in the field after sampling the environment in Mississippi Diagnosed with melioidosis, two years apart – one in July 2020, the other in May 2022. The unidentified individuals were not related, the CDC said, but lived in “close geographic proximity” and had not recently moved out of the United States.
Officials said genomic sequencing data showed that both people had been infected with the same novel strain from the Western Hemisphere. Both patients were hospitalized and recovered after antibiotic treatment.
Last month, the Mississippi State Department of Health and CDC collected environmental samples of soil, water and plant matter from patients’ properties, household products, and areas around them.
The bacteria can infect animals and people through direct contact or through cuts and wounds. Officials said the risk of spreading from person to person is low. Symptoms usually occur between one day and three weeks after exposure.
The CDC noted that most cases of melioidosis occur outside the United States. But last year, four people in four different states became infected with melioidosis after using a contaminated aromatherapy spray sold at Walmart. Officials said two of the four people died.
The symptoms of melioidosis are non-specific and vary from person to person, but symptoms include fever, localized pain or swelling, chest pain, and headache, the CDC said. People with diabetes, excessive alcohol consumption, chronic lung disease, chronic kidney disease and immunosuppressive conditions are more susceptible to the bacteria. Officials said a quick diagnosis and antibiotics were important.
pseudomallei isn’t the only thing found in soil that can also cause disease.
Valley fever, also known as coccidioidomycosis, is a fungal infection that lives in soil in the southwestern United States and parts of Mexico and Central and South America. The CDC said it is contracted by breathing in microscopic fungal spores from the air, although most people who breathe in the spores do not get sick. In 2019, about 20,000 cases were reported to the agency, most from people living in Arizona or California.
(This story has not been edited by seemayo staff and is published from a rss feed)