Drinking water and melioidosis

Investigators

Dr Tim Inglis
Dr Martha Sinclair
Dr Chris Saint
Mr Darryl Day
Mr Richard walker

Funded by: Cooperative Research Centre for Water Quality and Treatment

Melioidosis is a rare but potentially fatal disease caused by the tropical soil organism Burkholderia pseudomallei. This disease affects mainly people with impaired immune systems and the primary route of infection is through soil contamination of cuts and sores. However, the possibility of infection through inhalation or ingestion of contaminated water has been raised by recent studies in northern Australia. This project is examining the effect of variations in the physicochemical properties of water on survival of the bacterium, and on the effectiveness of chlorine disinfection.