The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced on Wednesday, July 27, that a potentially deadly type of bacterium previously found only in parts of Africa, Australia, or Southern Asia, has been detected for the first time in soil and water samples in the United States.
The Burkholderia pseudomallei bacterium can cause an illness called melioidosis, which has proven fatal in half of the cases reported worldwide. About a dozen cases are discovered in the U.S. every year, usually among people who had traveled overseas, according to CBS News.
The CDC revealed, however, that the bacterium can already be found in soil and water samples along the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. The federal agency had issued a health alert to physicians nationwide to be on the lookout for symptoms of melioidosis, which can be vague, including fever, chest pain, and cough. The illness, in more severe cases, can lead to pneumonia-like illness, seizures, and disorientation.
No surprise that the bacterium made its way into the U.S.
The CDC stated that it is unclear how long the bacteria has been in the environment and where else it might be found in the United States. Dr. Jill Weatherhead, assistant professor of tropical medicine and infectious diseases at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, told NBC News she was not surprised that the bacterium had made its way into the U.S.
She noted that they live in a subtropical climate in the U.S. along the Gulf Coast, where it is warm and humid. She added that this is a suitable environment for Burkholderia pseudomallei, and the bacterium has the potential to thrive anywhere along the Gulf Coast; thus, it could become endemic.
The discovery of the bacterium on American soil came after two people who were unrelated but lived near each other in Mississippi became sick with melioidosis. One was diagnosed with the illness in 2020 and the other in 2022.
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Same bacterium found in contaminated aromatherapy room spray
According to the health alert that CDC sent to doctors, both patients were hospitalized with sepsis after they developed pneumonia. They were given antibiotics and recovered. The CDC said that samples from the puddles and soil near the patients' homes contained the bacterium, confirming its presence in the United States.
The same deadly bacterium was also found in contaminated aromatherapy room spray last year that sickened four people in Minnesota, Texas, Georgia, and Kansas. The aforementioned cases were unrelated to the current alert, as the spray had been imported from India, where Burkholderia pseudomallei is endemic.
Two of those people died, including a 5-year-old boy. The two other patients were left with lasting mental and physical health problems, according to the New England Journal of Medicine. Walmart recalled nearly 4,000 bottles of its Better Homes & Gardens Lavender & Chamomile Essential Oil Infused Aromatherapy Room Spray with Gemstone because of the bacterium.
