A Persisting Nontropical Focus of Burkholderia pseudomallei with Limited Genome Evolution over Five Decades

Abstract

Burkholderia pseudomallei is the causative agent of the high-mortality disease melioidosis. Although melioidosis is classified as a tropical disease, rare autochthonous cases have been reported from temperate climatic regions, with uncertainty as to whether B. pseudomallei is persistent in the local environment and whether specific genetic mechanisms facilitate the survival of B. pseudomallei outside the tropics. Sporadic cases of melioidosis occurred in a valley region (latitude 31.6°S) in southwest Western Australia, Australia, between 1966 and 1992. We report a new melioidosis cluster in the same region following high rainfall in January 2017. More than 20 animals died, and B. pseudomalle..