Human Melioidosis Caused by Novel Transmission of Burkholderia pseudomallei from Freshwater Home Aquarium, United States1

Dawson, Patrick; Duwell, Monique M.; Elrod, Mindy G.; Thompson, Ruth J.; Crum, David A.; Jacobs, Ruth M.; Gee, Jay E.; Kolton, Cari B.; Liu, Lindy; Blaney, David D.; Thomas, LaToya Griffin; Sockwell, Denise; Weiner, Zachary; Bower, William A.; Hoffmaster, Alex R.; Salzer, Johanna S.

doi:10.3201/eid2712.211756

i

Human Melioidosis Caused by Novel Transmission of Burkholderia pseudomallei from Freshwater Home Aquarium, United States1

Supporting Files Public Domain

12 2021
By Dawson, Patrick ; Duwell, Monique M. ; Elrod, Mindy G. ; ...

File Language:

English

Details

Alternative Title:

Emerg Infect Dis
Personal Author:

Dawson, Patrick ; Duwell, Monique M. ; Elrod, Mindy G. ; Thompson, Ruth J. ; Crum, David A. ; Jacobs, Ruth M. ; Gee, Jay E. ; Kolton, Cari B. ; Liu, Lindy ; Blaney, David D. ; Thomas, LaToya Griffin ; Sockwell, Denise ; Weiner, Zachary ; Bower, William A. ; Hoffmaster, Alex R. ; Salzer, Johanna S.
Description:

Nearly all cases of melioidosis in the continental United States are related to international travel to areas to which Burkholderia pseudomallei, the bacterium that causes melioidosis, is endemic. We report the diagnosis and clinical course of melioidosis in a patient from the United States who had no international travel history and the public health investigation to determine the source of exposure. We tested environmental samples collected from the patient's home for B. pseudomallei by PCR and culture. Whole-genome sequencing was conducted on PCR-positive environmental samples, and results were compared with sequences from the patient's clinical specimen. Three PCR-positive environmental samples, all collected from a freshwater home aquarium that had contained imported tropical fish, were a genetic match to the clinical isolate from the patient. This finding suggests a novel route of exposure and a potential for importation of B. pseudomallei, a select agent, into the United States from disease-endemic areas.
Subjects:

Animals Burkholderia Pseudomallei Fresh Water Humans Melioidosis Polymerase Chain Reaction Whole Genome Sequencing
Source:

Emerg Infect Dis. 2021; 27(12):3030-3035
Pubmed ID:

34570693
Pubmed Central ID:

PMC8632198
Document Type:

Journal Article
Place as Subject:

United States
Location:

North America
Volume:

27
Issue:

12
Collection(s):

Emerging Infectious Diseases
Main Document Checksum:

urn:sha256:fb9c4d49c047cba805dd46d1522715a0b90a3d13f8450d39143ee355e3007207
Download URL:

https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/112632/cdc_112632_DS1.pdf
File Type:

[PDF - 1.20 MB ]

File Language:

English

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