Melioidosis in Animals, Thailand, 2006–2010

Direk Limmathurotsakul

, Suree Thammasart, Nattachai Warrasuth, Patiporn Thapanagulsak, Anchalee Jatapai, Vanna Pengreungrojanachai, Suthatip Anun, Wacharee Joraka, Pacharee Thongkamkoon, Piangjai Saiyen, Surasakdi Wongratanacheewin, Nicholas P.J. Day, and Sharon J. Peacock

Author affiliations: Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand (D. Limmathurotsakul, A. Jatapai, N.P.J. Day, S.J. Peacock); Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Bangkok (S. Thammasart, N. Warrasuth, P. Thapanagulsak, P. Thongkamkoon); Ratchaburi Hospital, Ratchaburi, Thailand (V. Pengreungrojanachai); Chachoengsao Hospital, Chachoengsao, Thailand (S. Anun); Chonburi Hospital, Chonburi, Thailand (W. Joraka); Phrachomklao Hospital, Phetchaburi, Thailand (P. Saiyen); Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand (S. Wongratanacheewin); University of Oxford, Oxford, UK (N.P.J. Day); Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, UK (S.J. Peacock)

Abstract

We retrospectively estimated the incidence of culture-proven melioidosis in animals in Thailand during 2006–2010. The highest incidence was in goats (1.63/100,000/year), followed by incidence in pigs and cattle. The estimated incidence of melioidosis in humans in a given region paralleled that of melioidosis in goats.

Melioidosis is a serious infection caused by the gram-negative bacillus and biothreat organism, Burkholderia pseudomallei. It is the third most frequent cause of death from infectious diseases in northeastern Thailand (after HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis) (1) and the most common cause of community-acquired bacteremic pneumonia in northern Australia (2). Melioidosis also occurs in a wide range of animal species; most cases reported in the literature are in livestock in northern Australia (3–8). In Thailand, serologic studies that use the indirect hemagglutination test (IHA) have indicated that pigs, sheep, goats, and cattle are exposed to B. pseudomallei (9,10), but to our knowledge, culture-confirmed melioidosis in animals has not been reported in the literature (11). We describe the findings of a study to estimate incidence of melioidosis in animals in Thailand and compare the geographic distribution of melioidosis in animals with that in humans.