Fatal Burkholderia pseudomallei septicaemia.

Melioidosis, the infection caused by the saprophytic bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei, is endemic in south-east Asia and northern Australia [1]. Sporadic cases have been reported from the Indian subcontinent and it is an emerging infection in India [2]. A low prevalence of antibodies against melioidosis among hospitalassociated groups in Colombo had been reported in 1976 [3], as well as a report of melioidosis abscess after travel to Sri Lanka in 1999 [4]. Septicaemic melioidosis represents the most severe form of this infection, with a high mortality. We report here the first laboratory confirmed patient with Burkholderia pseudomallei infection in Sri Lanka, who had septicaemic melioidosis leading to multi-organ dysfunction.