Agricultural use of Burkholderia (Pseudomonas) cepacia: a threat to human health?

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Emerg Infect Dis
• Personal Author:
  Holmes, A. ; Govan, J. ; Goldstein, R.
• Description:
  In the past 2 decades, Burkholderia cepacia has emerged as a human pathogen causing numerous outbreaks, particularly among cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. One highly transmissible strain has spread across North America and Britain, and another between hospitalized CF and non-CF patients. Meanwhile, the organism has been developed as a biopesticide for protecting crops against fungal diseases and has potential as a bioremediation agent for breaking down recalcitrant herbicides and pesticides. However, B. cepacia is inherently resistant to multiple antibiotics; selection of strains "safe" for environmental application is not at present possible phenotypically or genotypically; molecular epidemiology and phylogenetic studies demonstrate that highly transmissible strains emerge randomly; and the organism has a capacity for rapid mutation and adaptation (facilitated by numerous insertion sequences), and a large, complex genome divided into separate chromosomes. Therefore, the widespread agricultural use of B. cepacia should be approached with caution.
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Burkholderia Cepacia Burkholderia Infections Cystic Fibrosis Environmental Microbiology Humans Infection Control Mutation Pest Control, Biological
• Source:
  Emerg Infect Dis. 4(2):221-227.
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Volume:
  4
• Issue:
  2
• Collection(s):
  Emerging Infectious Diseases
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:5bf66d9737c9bcee8fdab44e1ca6dc9850aaa7952d635c2770a2fd29fa8e2861
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/15485/cdc_15485_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 330.88 KB ]