Use of rapid enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays for serological screening of melioidosis in myanmar

Burkholderia pseudomallei, the etiologic agent of melioidosis, is an important but under-recognized cause of disease in the tropics. Although first described over a century ago as a septicemic illness associated with morphine addicts in Rangoon, Burma, there is little information regarding the incidence of melioidosis in present-day Myanmar. To address this issue, we used two recently developed and validated serological assays to detect B. pseudomallei–specific antibodies in 124 serum samples obtained from febrile patients in the delta region of Myanmar. Using cutoff values derived from culture-confirmed melioidosis cases in neighboring Thailand, 3.2% of the samples exhibited reactivity profiles consistent with active B. pseudomallei infections. Collectively, these findings indicate that melioidosis likely represents a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in Myanmar and support the need for further studies to assess the true burden of disease in this country.