It’s “unheard of” for people who live in the U.S. to develop melioidosis without traveling, says William Schaffner, M.D., an infectious disease specialist and professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. “This is, at the moment, a conundrum for public health epidemiologists to try to figure out what’s going on here,” he says. “It’s certainly a scientific and public health curiosity.”
As a result, the CDC suspects that the most likely cause is an imported good, like a food, drink, personal care product, cleaning product, or medicine. “The bacteria normally lives in moist soil and water,” the CDC’s statement says. “However, in rare cases, it has also been found to contaminate wet or moist products in the areas where the bacteria are common.”
However, given that melioidosis can be used for bioterrorism (when viruses, bacteria, or other pathogens are released intentionally), Dr. Adalja says “all cases outside of endemic regions require thorough investigation.”
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