Burkholderia pseudomallei Genotype Distribution in the Northern Territory, Australia

Stephanie N. J. Chapple Menzies School of Health Research, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia; Melbourne Medical School, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Imperial College, London, United Kingdom; Department of Infectious Diseases and Northern Territory Medical Program, Royal Darwin Hospital, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia

Search for other papers by Stephanie N. J. Chapple in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
,
Erin P. Price Menzies School of Health Research, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia; Melbourne Medical School, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Imperial College, London, United Kingdom; Department of Infectious Diseases and Northern Territory Medical Program, Royal Darwin Hospital, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia

Search for other papers by Erin P. Price in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
,
Derek S. Sarovich Menzies School of Health Research, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia; Melbourne Medical School, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Imperial College, London, United Kingdom; Department of Infectious Diseases and Northern Territory Medical Program, Royal Darwin Hospital, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia

Search for other papers by Derek S. Sarovich in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
,
Evan McRobb Menzies School of Health Research, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia; Melbourne Medical School, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Imperial College, London, United Kingdom; Department of Infectious Diseases and Northern Territory Medical Program, Royal Darwin Hospital, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia

Search for other papers by Evan McRobb in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
,
Mark Mayo Menzies School of Health Research, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia; Melbourne Medical School, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Imperial College, London, United Kingdom; Department of Infectious Diseases and Northern Territory Medical Program, Royal Darwin Hospital, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia

Search for other papers by Mark Mayo in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
,
Mirjam Kaestli Menzies School of Health Research, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia; Melbourne Medical School, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Imperial College, London, United Kingdom; Department of Infectious Diseases and Northern Territory Medical Program, Royal Darwin Hospital, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia

Search for other papers by Mirjam Kaestli in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
,
Brian G. Spratt Menzies School of Health Research, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia; Melbourne Medical School, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Imperial College, London, United Kingdom; Department of Infectious Diseases and Northern Territory Medical Program, Royal Darwin Hospital, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia

Search for other papers by Brian G. Spratt in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
, and
Bart J. Currie Menzies School of Health Research, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia; Melbourne Medical School, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Imperial College, London, United Kingdom; Department of Infectious Diseases and Northern Territory Medical Program, Royal Darwin Hospital, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia

Search for other papers by Bart J. Currie in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.15-0627
Volume/Issue:
Volume 94: Issue 1
Page(s):
68–72
Restricted access
Get Permissions

Melioidosis is a tropical disease of high mortality caused by the environmental bacterium, Burkholderia pseudomallei. We have collected clinical isolates from the highly endemic Northern Territory of Australia routinely since 1989, and animal and environmental B. pseudomallei isolates since 1991. Here we provide a complete record of all B. pseudomallei multilocus sequence types (STs) found in the Northern Territory to date, and distribution maps of the eight most common environmental STs. We observed surprisingly restricted geographic distributions of STs, which is contrary to previous reports suggesting widespread environmental dissemination of this bacterium. Our data suggest that B. pseudomallei from soil and water does not frequently disperse long distances following severe weather events or by migration of infected animals.

Author Notes

* Address correspondence to Bart J. Currie, Menzies School of Health Research, PO Box 41096, Casuarina, Northern Territory 0811, Australia. E-mail: bart.currie@menzies.edu.au

Authors' addresses: Stephanie N. J. Chapple, Erin P. Price, Derek S. Sarovich, Evan McRobb, Mark Mayo, and Mirjam Kaestli, Global and Tropical Health Division, Menzies School of Health Research, Casuarina, Northern Territory, Australia, E-mails: stephanie.chapple@menzies.edu.au, erin.price@menzies.edu.au, derek.sarovich@menzies.edu.au, evan.mcrobb@menzies.edu.au, mark.mayo@menzies.edu.au, and mirjam.kaestli@menzies.edu.au. Brian G. Spratt, Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, United Kingdom, E-mail: b.spratt@imperial.ac.uk. Bart J. Currie, Royal Darwin Hospital and Menzies School of Health Research, Casuarina, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia 0811, E-mail: bart.currie@menzies.edu.au.

Copyright:
© The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 2016
Received:
26 Aug 2015
|
Accepted:
22 Sep 2015
|
Published Online:
06 Jan 2016
Cover The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
Print ISSN:
0002-9637
Online ISSN:
1476-1645
  • 1.

    Cheng AC, Currie BJ, 2005. Melioidosis: epidemiology, pathophysiology, and management. Clin Microbiol Rev 18: 383–416.

  • 2.

    Wiersinga WJ, Currie BJ, Peacock SJ, 2012. Melioidosis. N Engl J Med 367: 1035–1044.

  • 3.

    Dance DAB, 2015. Melioidosis in Puerto Rico: the iceberg slowly emerges. Clin Infect Dis 60: 251–253.

  • 4.

    Limmathurotsakul D, Wuthiekanun V, Chantratita N, Wongsuvan G, Amornchai P, Day NPJ, Peacock SJ, 2010. Burkholderia pseudomallei is spatially distributed in soil in northeast Thailand. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 4: e694.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 5.

    Vesaratchavest M, Tumapa S, Day NPJ, Wuthiekanun V, Chierakul W, Holden MTG, White NJ, Currie BJ, Spratt BG, Feil EJ, Peacock SJ, 2006. Nonrandom distribution of Burkholderia pseudomallei clones in relation to geographical location and virulence. J Clin Microbiol 44: 2553–2557.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 6.

    Pearson T, Giffard P, Beckstrom-Sternberg S, Auerbach R, Hornstra H, Tuanyok A, Price EP, Glass MB, Leadem B, Beckstrom-Sternberg JS, Allan GJ, Foster JT, Wagner DM, Okinaka RT, Sim SH, Pearson O, Wu ZN, Chang J, Kaul R, Hoffmaster AR, Brettin TS, Robison RA, Mayo M, Gee JE, Tan P, Currie BJ, Keim P, 2009. Phylogeographic reconstruction of a bacterial species with high levels of lateral gene transfer. BMC Biol 7: 78.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 7.

    Dale J, Price EP, Hornstra H, Busch JD, Mayo M, Godoy D, Wuthiekanun V, Baker A, Foster JT, Wagner DM, Tuanyok A, Warner J, Spratt BG, Peacock SJ, Currie BJ, Keim P, Pearson T, 2011. Epidemiological tracking and population assignment of the non-clonal bacterium, Burkholderia pseudomallei. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 5: e1381.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 8.

    De Smet B, Sarovich DS, Price EP, Mayo M, Theobald V, Kham C, Heng SH, Thong P, Holden MTG, Parkhill J, Peacock SJ, Spratt BG, Jacobs JA, Vandamme P, Currie BJ, 2015. Whole-genome sequencing confirms that Burkholderia pseudomallei multilocus sequence types common to both Cambodia and Australia are due to homoplasy. J Clin Microbiol 53: 323–326.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 9.

    Cheng AC, Ward L, Godoy D, Norton R, Mayo M, Gal D, Spratt BG, Currie BJ, 2008. Genetic diversity of Burkholderia pseudomallei isolates in Australia. J Clin Microbiol 46: 249–254.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 10.

    McRobb E, Kaestli M, Price EP, Sarovich DS, Mayo M, Warner J, Spratt BG, Currie BJ, 2014. Distribution of Burkholderia pseudomallei in northern Australia, a land of diversity. Appl Environ Microbiol 80: 3463–3468.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 11.

    Baker A, Tahani D, Gardiner C, Bristow KL, Greenhill AR, Warner J, 2011. Groundwater seeps facilitate exposure to Burkholderia pseudomallei. Appl Environ Microbiol 77: 7243–7246.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 12.

    Kaestli M, Schmid M, Mayo M, Rothballer M, Harrington G, Richardson L, Hill A, Hill J, Tuanyok A, Keim P, Hartmann A, Currie BJ, 2012. Out of the ground: aerial and exotic habitats of the melioidosis bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei in grasses in Australia. Environ Microbiol 14: 2058–2070.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 13.

    Hampton V, Kaestli M, Mayo M, Choy JL, Harrington G, Richardson L, Benedict S, Noske R, Garnett ST, Godoy D, Spratt BG, Currie BJ, 2011. Melioidosis in birds and Burkholderia pseudomallei dispersal, Australia. Emerg Infect Dis 17: 1310–1312.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 14.

    Mollaret HH, 1988. L'affaire du jardin des plantes ou comment la mélioïdose fit son apparition en France. Med Mal Infect 18: 643–654.

  • 15.

    Currie B, Smith-Vaughan H, Golledge C, Buller N, Sriprakash KS, Kemp DJ, 1994. Pseudomonas pseudomallei isolates collected over 25 years from a nontropical endemic focus show clonality on the basis of ribotyping. Epidemiol Infect 113: 307–312.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 16.

    Sagripanti JL, Levy A, Robertson J, Merritt A, Inglis TJJ, 2009. Inactivation of virulent Burkholderia pseudomallei by sunlight. Photochem Photobiol 85: 978–986.

  • 17.

    McRobb E, Kaestli M, Mayo M, Price EP, Sarovich DS, Godoy D, Spratt BG, Currie BJ, 2013. Melioidosis from contaminated bore water and successful UV sterilization. Am J Trop Med Hyg 89: 367–368.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 18.

    Yip TW, Hewagama S, Mayo M, Price EP, Sarovich DS, Bastian I, Baird RW, Spratt BG, Currie BJ, 2015. Endemic melioidosis in residents of desert region after atypically intense rainfall in central Australia, 2011. Emerg Infect Dis 21: 1038–1040.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 19.

    Currie BJ, Ward L, Cheng AC, 2010. The epidemiology and clinical spectrum of melioidosis: 540 cases from the 20 year Darwin Prospective Study. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 4: e900.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • 20.

    Parameswaran U, Baird RW, Ward LM, Currie BJ, 2012. Melioidosis at Royal Darwin Hospital in the big 2009–2010 wet season: comparison with the preceding 20 years. Med J Aust 196: 345–348.

    • PubMed
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
Past two years Past Year Past 30 Days
Abstract Views 1580 1446 43
Full Text Views 554 16 0
PDF Downloads 172 14 0
 

 

 

 
 
Affiliate Membership Banner
 
 
Research for Health Information Banner
 
 
CLOCKSS
 
 
 
Society Publishers Coalition Banner
Save