LAUSR

elioidosis is an opportunistic tropical infection caused by the environmental bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei. In MnorthernAustralia,most patients presentwith thedisease during the wet season, when heavy rainfall increases the B. pseudomallei load in the top soil. An increase in the number of pneumonic presentations has been noted after cyclones and tropical storms; it has been proposed that heavy rainfall during severe weather events increases the environmental load ofB. pseudomallei, while the associated high winds aerosolise the organism, increasing the risk of inhalation and, in susceptible hosts, disease. As the frequency of severe weather events is predicted to increase as a result of global climate change, some authors havewarned of a potential rise in the burden of melioidosis.