sg is serious with every case of
melioidiosis.
2.why so serious?
Aside from looking at the possible places where infection could
have been acquired, we also considered the possibility, although
remote, that the cluster of cases had been intentionally caused. As
you know, Burkholderia pseudomallei has been classified by
many countries, including the United States, Britain and Australia,
to be a potential biological weapon. All the isolates we
obtained from the patients with melioidosis during this period were
sent from the diagnostic laboratories to our Defence Medical and
Environmental Research Institute for genetic fingerprinting using
multi-locus fragment length polymorphism. Results were rapid and
obtained within 2 days and happily, the isolates obtained during
this time was not clonal and were genetically disparate.
----4th World Melioidosis Congress,16 Sep 2004
By Prof K Satkunanantham, Director of Medical
Services,Singapore
3.High mortality rate
Over the last 10 years, an average of 67 cases was reported
annually, ranging from 36-114 cases. The average mortality rate was
18%
(Addendum : The mortality rate of 47% quoted refers to the 49 cases
with pneumonia and or septicaemia. The mortality rate for the 57
cases overall reported during the period January to July 2004 is
40%)
4.
In 1996, New method ELISA can detect MELIOIDOSIS ,BURKHOLDERIA
PSEUDOMALLEI,in 3 hours,by NUS.
5.sg has been learning chem/bio defence for over 20
years.
sg has tried its best to prepare for the worst.
6.Melioidosis (Burkholderia pseudomallei) is a Cat B agent
The Category B agents would be moderately easy to
disseminate
, would cause moderate morbidity and low mortality, and would
require specific enhancements of diagnostic capacity and disease
surveillance capabilities.
7.R&D is still going on
Some of the infectious diseases that the lab is studying are
malaria, dengue fever, yellow fever and melioidosis, as well as
infectious agents that may be used by a terrorist....
And the gene sleuths at DMRI are certainly making some headway in
their investigations. Collaborating with the National University of
Singapore, the lab became the first in the world to identify the
key gene sequences for all four malaria species. With this new
genetic information, the researchers invented a rapid screening
method for diagnosing malaria. While the current method is the
microscopic examination of blood films, which is time-consuming and
tedious, the new technique can detect malaria automatically with
just 1.5 parasites in five microlitres of blood.
