Epidemiology of Burkholderia pseudomallei in Thailand

The distribution of Burkholderia pseudomallei in soil collected from four r egions of Thailand and the frequency of B. pseudomallei infections in patie nts attending government hospitals throughout Thailand in 1997 were surveye d. A total of 3,585 soil samples collected from 896 sites in four regions o f Thailand were cultured for B. pseudomallei using selective enrichment bro th and modified Ashdown's agar. The organism was recovered in 4.4%, 6.1%, 2 0.4%, and 5.9% of the soil samples collected from the northern, central, no rtheastern, and southern regions, respectively, of Thailand (P < 0.0001). B urkholderia pseudomallei was cultured from 50.1% of the sites in the northe astern region compared with 13.8%, 24.5%, and 18.4% in the northern, centra l, and southern regions, respectively (P < 0.0001). The infection rate in p atients attending government hospitals in the northeastern region (137.9 pe r 100,000 inpatients) was significantly higher than those in the northern ( 18 per 100,000 inpatients), central (13.4 per 100,000 inpatients), and sout hern (14.4 per 100,000 inpatients) regions, respectively (P < 0.0001). It i s suggested that melioidosis, which is endemic in Thailand, is associated w ith the presence of B. pseudomallei in soil.