Fatal human melioidosis in south-eastern Queensland

Two fatal cases of human melioidosis, an infectious disease of animals and humans caused by the gram-negative bacillus Burkholderia pseudomallei endemic to Southeast Asia, the South Pacific, and tropical/subtropical parts of Australia, are discussed. The cases occurred simultaneously in temperate southeast Queensland in Australia after an unseasonably heavy rainfall. The patients both had cutaneous lesions before illness onset and pre-existing multisystem illnesses and both died from overwhelming sepsis. Endemicity may extend into more temperate areas.