2 dead from never-before-seen tropical disease in the United States

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is sounding the alarm on a rare disease that was previously only seen in tropical climates, particularly South Asia and northern Australia.

Today, two people have died and two have recovered after being infected with melioidosis – a disease that had never been detected before on contiguous American soil. Melioidosis has now been seen in Georgia, Kansas, Texas and Minnesota, LiveScience reported. The only other known cases of melioidosis in the United States have occurred in the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico in the Caribbean.

None of the four patients claimed to have traveled outside the country before falling ill between March and July of this year.

The CDC “considers the most likely cause to be an imported product (such as a food or drink, personal care or cleaning products, or medicine) or an ingredient in any of these types of products,” according to the press release published on Monday.

Investigators took more than 100 samples of soil, water and common products used in and around each patient’s home to find a link between the four cases – but found no common source so far. However, sequencing of the bacteria’s genome revealed that the four cases are likely related in some way, the CDC added.

A dozen cases of melioidosis are seen in Americans each year, almost all of which is due to travel. This is the first time that doctors have noticed that the disease appears to have originated in the contiguous United States.

Caused by bacteria Burkholderia pseudomallei, melioidosis may take several weeks to set in after exposure to the pathogen. Symptoms include cough and shortness of breath, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, intermittent fever and rash, the CDC wrote in a message to doctors on how to spot the disease.

Risk factors for developing the disease include diabetes, liver or kidney disease, chronic lung disease, cancer, or another disease that weakens the immune system, the CDC has warned.

One of the known cases of melioidosis – involving a 4-year-old girl – was recently publicized in Texas. Preschooler Lylah Baker had no known risk factors for the disease when she fell ill in May. Baker spent a month in the intensive care unit at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas, requiring a ventilator and eventually suffering brain damage, according to the Dallas Morning News.

“She was a healthy, typical little girl about to start kindergarten in the fall – no underlying health issues before. I don’t want to say anything, ”Ashley Kennon, the child’s aunt, told the newspaper. “So it was definitely a major surprise for anyone not knowing where [the bacteria] came from.

Baker is currently recovering at Our Children’s House Dallas.

The CDC urges doctors to be aware of the symptoms of melioidosis, regardless of the location and movement of their patients.