Epidemiology of Melioidosis

Melioidosis is one of the few genuinely tropical diseases well established in Southeast Asia and northern Australia. Though highly fatal consequence of septicemic melioidosis reported from tropical and developed countries is appalling, the disease has not attracted the attention that some recently recognized exotic diseases have received. In addition, melioido­ sis poses no threat to developed countries since there is no convincing data with regards to establishment and spread of the disease after importation. Discovery of Pseudomonas pseudomallei ori­ ginated in April 1911 at Pathological Laboratory, Rangoon, by Whitmore and Krishnaswami1 when a Burmese "morphia" addict aged 10 years succumbed from pneumonitis. Postmortem findings of the fIrst reported case revealed peculiar cheesy consolidation of the lung and several subcutaneous abscesses on his thighs. Specimen culture of the former grew out only B. mallei. Subsequent reports described Pseudomonas pseudomallei under variety of names including B. Whitmori, Pfeifferella whitmori, Pfeifferella pseudo­ mallei, Actinobacillus pseudomalle~ Loefferella whit mori and Malleomyces pseudomallei. 2 5 Until clini­ cians have been familiar with various clinical features of melioidosis and laboratory personnels are aware of this organism, the disease is yet to be discovered more frequently in endemic tropical countries as happened to Hong Kong6 and Thailand7 ,8 and, due to increasing mobility of people, in other parts of the world.