It is a bacterium that can be fatal, and it is found in dirt and water across the Northern Territory. Last year Melioidosis took the lives of five people in the NT and has now been discovered overseas. This week, international researchers gathered in Dawin to discuss how to best tackle the first disease.
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00:00It's the quiet killer lurking in Top End Gardens. An infectious disease found in soil
00:09and water.
00:10These bacteria, they evolved here in northern Australia. They're part of our nature, they're
00:14part of our environment. They have a role in the environment to do with plants and things
00:21like that where we as humans are incidental.
00:24Darwin is the frontier for miliodosis research and this week played host to a congress of
00:29international experts in the field.
00:32The big takeaways are that there are advancements in the treatment of miliodosis which is really
00:37good so more people are living longer. When they get infected there used to be a high
00:41mortality rate but that's been reduced as well as people identifying it in the environment
00:45as well as in clinical settings.
00:47The disease is now spreading to new areas with outbreaks in Hong Kong this week and
00:52even cases detected in Mississippi in the US.
00:56We had previous human cases but that was the first time that it had been isolated from
01:01the environment in the main continental United States and so that's sort of changed the
01:07dynamic there.
01:09International researchers looking to Australia for advice on how to tackle the dirt disease.
01:14I've done environmental sampling in Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands and the main part
01:19of the US but I learned here at Menzies School of Health Research.
01:25Military scientists have driven down mortality rates but the disease is still a threat and
01:30this year's early rain brings an increased risk.
01:34We actually instituted some of our miliodosis preventative work in our emergency department
01:40in the hospital and in the laboratory we actually switched to a wet season type of protocol
01:46we call it to be really on the lookout.
01:51A reminder to take precautions where you can, wearing gloves and closed toe shoes and
01:55keep an eye out for any symptoms if dirt gets in cuts or wounds.