The patient’s chest scan showed signs of pneumonia, and lab results showed she had more immune cells in her blood than normal. Suspecting an infection, doctors checked the patient’s blood for bacteria and found a species called Burkholderia pseudomallei, which is widely found in Australia and Southeast Asia. However, the woman had not been out of the country.
The woman had melioidosis, a bacterial infection caused by a microbe that lives in soil and water in tropical and subtropical regions. People can become infected by breathing in dust or water contaminated with B. pseudomallei or by touching contaminated soil or water, especially with broken skin.
The patient was given antibiotics that resolved her fever and returned her immune cell count to normal. She was discharged after 11 days, but she continued to receive antibiotics through an IV at an outpatient clinic. A few weeks later, however, the patient’s fever returned, and she was re-admitted for more extensive antibiotic treatment. She was discharged a week later, but ultimately had to remain on antibiotics for months to fully clear the infection.
Historically, most melioidosis cases found in the U.S. have been associated with international travel. In this case, however, the woman was exposed to the bacteria much closer to home.
The patient had never traveled outside the continental U.S., but she owned two fish tanks. Looking for the source of the bacteria in her home, scientists collected samples of water, gravel, filters and artificial plants from both tanks and found that several samples from one tank had tested positive for B. pseudomallei.
The patient had purchased the tank and supplies from a large retail store, and the water in the contaminated tank was “consistently cloudier” than the other, she said. Several sets of fish kept in that tank had died, and she remembers putting her bare hands and arms into the water to clean the tank.
Scientists concluded that this case was the first time someone had contracted melioidosis from a fish tank, possibly through contamination of imported aquarium supplies or fish.
In the years since this case, scientists have found B. pseudomallei in soil and water samples from the Gulf Coast region of Mississippi, and data suggests that nearby states such as Texas may also have the bacteria. Therefore, these states may see more localized cases of melioidosis in the future. Recent cases have also been linked to contaminated, imported products, including aromatherapy sprays.