TY - JOUR
T1 - Melioidosis in Papua New Guinea and Oceania
AU - Warner, Jeffrey
AU - Currie, Bart
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgments: The work described in this review is supported in part by the BHP Community Trust, James Cook University and the National Health and Medical Research Council (Project Grants 1098337 and 1131932 [the HOT NORTH initiative]).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 by the authors.
PY - 2018/3/15
Y1 - 2018/3/15
N2 - Melioidosis has only been sporadically reported throughout Melanesia and the Pacific region since the first report from Guam in 1946; therefore, its contribution to the disease burden in this region is largely unknown. However, the outcome of a small number of active surveillance programs, serological surveys, and presumptive imported cases identified elsewhere provide an insight into its epidemiology and potential significance throughout the region. Both clinical cases and environmental reservoirs have been described from the rural district of Balimo in the Western Province of Papua New Guinea and from the Northern Province of New Caledonia. In both these locations the incidence of disease is similar to that described in tropical Australia and Burkholderia pseudomallei isolates are also phylogenetically linked to Australian isolates. Serological evidence and presumptive imported cases identified elsewhere suggest that melioidosis exists in other countries throughout the Pacific. However, the lack of laboratory facilities and clinical awareness, and the burden of other infections of public health importance such as tuberculosis, contribute to the under-recognition of melioidosis in this region.
AB - Melioidosis has only been sporadically reported throughout Melanesia and the Pacific region since the first report from Guam in 1946; therefore, its contribution to the disease burden in this region is largely unknown. However, the outcome of a small number of active surveillance programs, serological surveys, and presumptive imported cases identified elsewhere provide an insight into its epidemiology and potential significance throughout the region. Both clinical cases and environmental reservoirs have been described from the rural district of Balimo in the Western Province of Papua New Guinea and from the Northern Province of New Caledonia. In both these locations the incidence of disease is similar to that described in tropical Australia and Burkholderia pseudomallei isolates are also phylogenetically linked to Australian isolates. Serological evidence and presumptive imported cases identified elsewhere suggest that melioidosis exists in other countries throughout the Pacific. However, the lack of laboratory facilities and clinical awareness, and the burden of other infections of public health importance such as tuberculosis, contribute to the under-recognition of melioidosis in this region.
KW - Melioidosis
KW - Oceania
KW - Papua New Guinea
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85072028596&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/tropicalmed3010034
DO - 10.3390/tropicalmed3010034
M3 - Article
C2 - 30274431
AN - SCOPUS:85072028596
VL - 3
SP - 1
EP - 5
JO - Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease
JF - Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease
SN - 2414-6366
IS - 1
M1 - 34
ER -