Melioidosis in New Caledonia: a dominant strain in a transmission hotspot.

Bénédicte Melot (1) , Julien Colot (1) , Flore Lacassin (2) , Sylvie Tardieu (3) , Eric Lapisardi (4) , Mark Mayo (5) , Erin P Price (5) , Derek S Sarovich (5) , Bart J Currie (5) , Cyrille Goarant (1)

1 Institut Pasteur de Nouvelle-Calédonie
2 Service de Médecine interne
3 Medical Microbiology Laboratory
4 Emergency Unit and Acute Care Unit
5 Menzies School of Health Research [Australia]

Melioidosis is an infectious disease caused by Burkholderia pseudomallei, a bacterium endemic in Southeast Asia and northern Australia. In New Caledonia, sporadic cases were first described in 2005; since then, more cases have been identified. To improve our understanding of melioidosis epidemiology in New Caledonia, we compared the local cases and B. pseudomallei isolates with those from endemic areas. Nineteen melioidosis cases have been diagnosed in New Caledonia since 1999, mostly severe and with frequent bacteraemia, leading to three (16%) fatalities. All but one occurred in the North Province. Besides sporadic cases caused by non-clonal strains, we also identified a hotspot of transmission related to a clonal group of B. pseudomallei that is phylogenetically related to Australian strains.

Domains: Infectious diseases

Bénédicte Melot, Julien Colot, Flore Lacassin, Sylvie Tardieu, Eric Lapisardi, et al.. Melioidosis in New Caledonia: a dominant strain in a transmission hotspot.. Epidemiology and Infection, 2015, ⟨10.1017/S0950268815002770⟩. ⟨pasteur-01228983⟩