Classification: ICD-9 025; ICD-10 A24.1-A24.4
Syndromes and synonyms: Whitmore disease.
Agent: Burkholderia pseudomallei, (formerly Pseudomonas pseudomallei), an aerobic, motile Gram-negative bacillus of the beta-proteobacteria group. It is oxidase positive, resistant to a wide range of antibiotics including gentamicin, polymyxin, and the second-generation cephalosporins. A similar disease of equines called glanders, now rare (extinct in the Americas), is caused by the related bacterium B. mallei. Both B. mallei and B. pseudomallei are listed as potential biological warfare agents.
Reservoir: B. pseudomallei is a soil and water saprophyte and can survive for long periods in moist soil and mammalian tissues. Infection has been found in a wide range of animals, but none is thought to be a reservoir host.
Transmission: Through breaks in skin, ingestion or aspiration of contaminated water, inhalation of contaminated dust. There are rare reports of transmission from human or animal cases to humans. Laboratory workers have been infected by aerosols.
Incubation period: 1–21 days for most acute cases but activation of latent infection has occurred from 25 to 63 years after exposure.
Clinical findings
Related posts:
Stay updated, free articles. Join our Telegram channel
Full access? Get Clinical Tree
