Unprecedented Melioidosis Cases in Northern Australia Caused by an Asian Burkholderia pseudomallei Strain Identified by Using Large-Scale Comparative Genomics.

ABSTRACT: Melioidosis is a disease of humans and animals that is caused by the saprophytic bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei. Once thought to be confined to certain locations, the known presence of B. pseudomallei is expanding as more regions of endemicity are uncovered. There is no vaccine for melioidosis, and even with antibiotic administration, the mortality rate is as high as 40% in some regions that are endemic for the infection. Despite high levels of recombination, phylogenetic reconstruction of B. pseudomallei populations using whole-genome sequencing (WGS) has revealed surprisingly robust biogeographic separation between isolates from Australia and Asia. To date, there have been no confirmed autochthonous melioidosis cases in Australia caused by an Asian isolate; likewise, no autochthonou

SUBMITTER: Price EP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4725268 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature