Forwarded by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health
Forwarded by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health
CDC Health Advisory:
Melioidosis Locally Endemic in Areas of the Mississippi Gulf Coast after Burkholderia pseudomallei Isolated in Soil and Water and Linked to Two Cases – Mississippi, 2020 and 2022
July 27, 2022
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a health advisory today after the bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei (B. pseudomallei) was identified for the first time in the environment in the continental United States. This bacterium causes a rare and serious disease called melioidosis. B. pseudomallei was identified through environmental sampling of soil and water in the Gulf Coast region of southern Mississippi during an investigation of two human melioidosis cases.
It is unclear how long the bacterium has been in the environment prior to 2020 or how widespread the bacterium is in the continental United States; modeling suggests that the environmental conditions found in the Gulf Coast states are conducive to the growth of B. pseudomallei. Extensive environmental sampling is needed to answer these questions.
This advisory serves to alert clinicians and public health officials throughout the country to consider melioidosis in patients whose clinical presentation is compatible with signs and symptoms of the disease, regardless of travel history to international disease-endemic regions, as melioidosis is now considered to be locally endemic in areas of the Gulf Coast region of Mississippi.
Providers should report melioidosis cases within 1 working day
  • Los Angeles County DPH Acute Communicable Disease Control:
    Fax a CMR to 888-397-3778 or 213-482-5508 or call 888-397-3993.
    For consultation call 213-240-7941.
  • Long Beach Health and Human Services:
    Complete the Long Beach CMR and send by fax to 562-570-4374 or email LBEpi@longbeach.gov, or call 562-570-4302.
  • Pasadena Public Health Department:
    Fax a Pasadena CMR to 626-744-6115 or call 626-744-6089.
Please see the full Health Advisory, including recommendations for clinicians: 
CDC Advisory - PDF version
CDC Advisory - Web version
To view a printable PDF of this communication and other LAHAN communications, please visit publichealth.lacounty.gov/lahan. If this message was forwarded to you, please join LAHAN here.
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