Pseudomonas pseudomallei isolates collected over 25 years from a non-tropical endemic focus show clonality on the basis of ribotyping.
Between 1966 and 1991, melioidosis, a disease caused by Pseudomonas pseudomallei that is mostly confined to tropical regions, occurred in farm animals and a farmer in temperate south-west Western Australia. Using an Escherichia coli probe containing a ribosomal RNA operon, P. pseudomallei DNA from isolates from 8 animals, a soil sample and the human case showed an identical ribotype on Southern blotting. The ribotype was different from the 3 commonest ribotypes seen in tropical Australia. This molecular typing supports the theory of clonal introduction of P. pseudomallei into a non-endemic region, with environmental contamination, local dissemination and persistence over 25 years. As melioidosis is often fatal in humans, such persistence in a temperate region is cause for concern.
Currie
B
B
Menzies School of Health Research and Royal Darwin Hospital, Australia.
Smith-Vaughan
H
H
Golledge
C
C
Buller
N
N
Sriprakash
K S
KS
Kemp
D J
DJ
D000818:Animals; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D016957:Burkholderia pseudomallei / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D015342:DNA Probes; D004285:Dogs; D004587:Electrophoresis, Agar Gel; D006041:Goats; D006801:Humans; D008554:Melioidosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D012756:Sheep; D014904:Western Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D012407:rRNA Operon
D015342:DNA Probes