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Pathogen Page

Burkholderia pseudomallei

I. General Information

1. NCBI Taxonomy ID:

2. Disease:

Melioidosis

3. Introduction

The bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei is a gram-negative saprophytic bacillus that is found predominantly in Southeast Asia and tropical Australia and is the causative agent of the emerging infection melioidosis. Infection of humans with B. pseudomallei may occur by various routes, including via wounds and existing skin lesions, aspiration of contaminated water during near-drowning, and inhalation of organisms. The clinical manifestations of melioidosis are not uniform, and patients can present with pneumonia, skin abscesses, soft tissue abscesses, or osteomyelitis/septic arthritis. Pneumonic melioidosis is presented in over 50% of acute cases of the disease, and disseminated pneumonia is associated with high mortality. Chronic melioidosis usually occurs following acute melioidosis, and relapsing melioidosis can result from the reactivation of a latent B. pseudomallei infection, often due to the withdrawal of antibiotics or the failure to complete prescribed courses of antibiotics (Harland et al., 2007).

4. Microbial Pathogenesis

B. pseudomallei is an "accidental pathogen". It is an environmental organism that has no requirement to pass through an animal host in order to replicate. From the point of view of the bacterium, human infection is an evolutionary "dead end". B. pseudomallei is able to invade cells, polymerise actin and to spread from cell to cell, causing cell fusion and the formation of multinucleate giant cells (Wiki: B. pseudomallei).

5. Host Ranges and Animal Models

B. pseudomallei infects humans and animals and causes the disease melioidosis. It is also capable of infecting plants (Wiki: B. pseudomallei).

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