Authorities have identified Burkholderia pseudomallei in U.S. environmental samples “for the primary time.” The bacteria may cause the infectious disease generally known as melioidosis or Whitmore’s disease.

Health officials tested samples after two “unrelated individuals” within the Gulf Coast region of the southern U.S. fell ailing with melioidosis on two separate occasions — one in July 2020 and the opposite in May 2022, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) noted in a news release. Neither of them had a history of recent travel outside of the U.S., in line with the agency’s Health Alert Network (HAN) health advisory. Genomic data revealed the identical strain infected them.

Authorities tested various household products, soil and water across the patients’ homes, and three of the 2022 soil and puddle water samples indeed tested positive for B. pseudomallei. In keeping with the agency, this shows that each patients likely fell ailing from “bacteria from the environment.” It also suggests that the bacteria has been around in the world “since at the very least 2020.”

“It’s unclear how long the bacteria has been within the environment and where else it may be present in the U.S.; nevertheless, modeling suggests that the environmental conditions present in the Gulf Coast states are conducive to the expansion of B. pseudomallei,” the CDC said within the news release.

“(M)elioidosis is now considered to be locally endemic in areas of the Gulf Coast region of Mississippi,” it added within the Health Advisory.

People typically get melioidosis through direct contact with B. pseudomallei via contaminated soil and water, whether by inhaling the droplets, consuming contaminated food or water or via contact via skin abrasions. Nevertheless, the condition is more common in tropical climates similar to in Southeast Asia and northern Australia, in line with the CDC.

The disease is sort of rare within the U.S. Although about 12 cases of the disease are identified every year, these are primarily amongst individuals who travel to a rustic where the disease is more common. Within the case of the 2021 cluster of illnesses, investigations identified imported aromatherapy sprays because the source of the contamination.

Melioidosis could be serious and could be fatal in 10% to 50% of those infected, in line with the CDC. For now, the agency classifies the chance to the overall population as “very low” but is urging those within the Gulf Coast of Mississippi and those that have underlying medical conditions that will place them at higher risk of disease to take extra precautions.

Since people typically get sick through contact with contaminated soil, the CDC is advising people to avoid getting in touch with muddy water, especially in the event that they have open wounds. It could even be best to wear waterproof boots and gloves while doing work like gardening or another task that involves direct contact with soil.

The agency can be urging health care providers to learn more about melioidosis and its symptoms as “prompt diagnosis and treatment are critical.”

“Once well-established within the soil, B. pseudomallei cannot feasibly be faraway from the soil. Public health efforts should focus totally on improving identification of cases in order that appropriate treatment could be administered,” the CDC noted in its health advisory. “Melioidosis is now a Nationally Notifiable Disease following a positive vote on the 2022 CSTE conference which should enhance domestic surveillance and public health response.”