The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a warning Wednesday a few rare but serious disease called Melioidosis that has been detected within the Gulf Coast region of Mississippi.
In accordance with the agency, Melioidosis can develop when an individual comes involved with a bacteria often called B.pseudomallei. The bacteria were identified in soil and water samples in Mississippi after two unrelated people became sick from the disease.
The 2 individuals were infected with the bacteria years apart – in 2020 and 2022 – each within the Gulf Coast region of the U.S.
The CDC reacted to the cases by testing household products, soil, and water in and across the patients’ homes to search for the bacteria, which was identified in soil and puddle water during a 2022 test. The agency believes the bacteria was present in the world since at the least 2020 and was prone to have caused each people’s infections.
Melioidosis could be brought on by direct contact with the bacteria, causing symptoms of fever, joint pain, and headaches, in addition to health conditions reminiscent of pneumonia, abscess formation, or blood infections.
Melioidosis is rare, with only a median of 12 cases within the U.S. annually, primarily from individuals who have traveled in another country to locations where the bacteria is endemic. In other instances, Melioidosis has been linked to contaminated business products, which was the case in 2021 when 4 people in 4 states were infected from contaminated aromatherapy spray sold at Walmart.
Globally, Melioidosis has a fatality rate of 10% to 50%, the CDC said. The rare disease is traditionally present in tropical and subtropical regions, reminiscent of South and Southeast Asia, northern Australia, and parts of Central and South America and Puerto Rico.
The CDC is warning healthcare providers to be looking out for signs and symptoms of Melioidosis because it expects to see more cases develop within the U.S., but said that it “believes the chance of Melioidosis for the final population continues to be very low.”
Nevertheless, people living on the Gulf Coast of the Mississippi or people who have health conditions reminiscent of diabetes, chronic kidney disease, chronic lung disease, or excessively use alcohol, are more in danger.
Should you are susceptible to contracting Melioidosis, the CDC advises avoiding contact with soil or muddy water, wearing waterproof boots when doing yard work in addition to gloves when working in soil.
Treatment for Melioidosis includes intravenous antimicrobial therapy for at least two weeks, which is then followed by oral antimicrobial therapy, which is taken for three-to-six weeks, the CDC said on its website.