Six dead and ten hospitalised in Taiwan with soil infection, melioidosis

Aug 1 2005

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), Taiwanese health authorities are examining a possible link between soil bacteria and the deaths of at least six people and the hospitalization of ten others in southern Taiwan.

The CDC says that during the last two weeks, 16 people have been hospitalised near the southern cities of Tainan and Kaohsiung, after contracting melioidosis, also called Whitmore's disease.

Taiwan's Premier Frank Hsieh, says that melioidosis is not a notifiable disease and the public need not panic, but he urges them to heed personal hygiene and not touch contaminated water if they have open wounds.

CDC official Wu Ping-huei, says that fourteen of the patients lived near the Erhjen Creek in southern Taiwan, and a link with water pollution was possible.

He gave no additional information about the patients' personal or medical backgrounds or the dates of the deaths, but suggests that Typhoon Haitang, which caused widespread flooding in mid-July, could have played a role in the illnesses.

There is apparently a likelihood that the heavy rain washed bacteria out of the soil, which then polluted the water.

Wu Ping-huei says experts were investigating what type of bacteria might have been responsible, and added that direct contact between wounds and polluted soil might have caused the disease.

He says the bacteria could not be passed from one person to another.

Chang Wen-yu, a doctor at the Tainan City Hospital, where some of the patients are being treated, says that farmers are particularly vulnerable to dangerous bacteria.