Chapter 20, Problem 1EDCS

Isabella felt lucky. How many community college students had the opportunity to help a professor do research in northern Australia’s Kakadu National Park for a month, get college credit for the experience, and not have to pay for the trip? Though she was the oldest person on the trip and often felt her 45 years as they hiked the trails, she didn’t complain. Of course things would have been better if it didn’t seem to rain all the time In Australia and if the thorns didn't tear at her legs quite so regularly; still, the trip was an adventure.

A week after her return to Houston, Texas, Isabella developed a high fever (39.2^°C) and general weakness. All other signs, including the results of blood work, appeared normal. The doctors, suspecting flu, told her to get plenty of rest and sent her home. Two days later Isabella was intermittently drowsy and confused, her breathing was labored, and a small cut on her leg was an inflamed, pus-filled lesion. She was admitted to the hospital and died the next day.

She died of melioidosis, an emerging disease caused by a Gram-negative bacterium, Burkholderia pseudomallei, which is endemic to the tropics of Southeast Asia and which appears to be spreading into more moderate climes. Isabella had been infected either via inhalation or through a cut on her leg. Even with treatment, nearly 90% of melioidosis patients die, including Isabella. (For more about melioidosis, seep. 600.)

1. 1. If a sample of Isabella's cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) were Gram-stained, what color would the bacterial cells appear?
2. 2. Why did the doctor suspect flu rather than melioidosis?
3. 3. Why is it unlikely that there will be an epidemic of melioidosis in Sweden or Norway?