Report Deadly Disease Alert: Melioidosis Claims 72 Lives in Thailand

[webfact]

Photo of Dr Panumas Yanawet Sakul courtesy of KhaoSod
 

The Thai Ministry of Public Health has sounded an alarm over melioidosis, a dangerous disease that has claimed 72 lives and infected 1,676 people.

 

The disease, also known as Whitmore's disease, thrives in waterlogged areas and is spread through contact with contaminated soil or water. The public is urged to avoid walking through muddy waters, inhale dust with caution, and prioritise cooked food.

 

Dr Panumas Yanawet Sakul of the Department of Disease Control highlighted the increased risk due to recent heavy rains, especially in regions prone to flooding.

 

Farmers and those working in such conditions are particularly vulnerable. The bacteria causing melioidosis can enter the body through skin abrasions, ingestion of contaminated items, or inhaling polluted dust. Symptoms generally appear between four and nine days but can emerge as late as a year.

 

The symptoms are broad and may be mistaken for other illnesses, ranging from fever and respiratory issues to severe infections leading to abscesses in organs like the lungs and liver. Such complexities necessitate lab tests for accurate diagnosis.

 

Current statistics indicate 1,676 infections and 72 fatalities, predominantly affecting those over 40, with the majority in northeastern provinces such as Mukdahan and Yasothon.

 

Deputy Director General Dr Direk Khamphan advised measures to curb the risk, including wearing protective footwear and gloves, disinfecting wounds immediately, and avoiding soil and water contact when injuries are present.

 

Eating properly cooked food and drinking boiled or packaged water are essential precautions. Avoiding dust exposure and seeking medical help for persistent fevers, especially those lasting over two days, are vital.

 

The public is encouraged to follow these guidelines to prevent the spread of this potentially fatal disease. Those seeking further information can contact the Department of Disease Control hotline at 1422.

 

  Adapted by ASEAN Now from The Thaiger 2025-07-12

 

 

[still kicking]

Here comes the anti-vaxers 

[faraday]

2 hours ago, still kicking said:

Here comes the anti-vaxers 

There isn't a vaccine forMelioidosis.

 

[DrJack54]

Off topic posts, and replies removed

[impulse]

This is one of those diseases that worries me because it can take weeks, months, or even years for symptoms to appear.  And the symptoms can be mistaken for so many other things.  Then, there's the treatment, which is weeks of IV antibiotics followed by months of oral antibiotics. 

 

And probably the scariest aspect is that I don't ever recall being swabbed and tested in a manner that would identify the cause.  It's always been "take this for a week and see how it works".  And that's on both sides of the pond.

 

The following comes from the US CDC website:

 

Melioidosis has a wide range of signs and symptoms. You usually develop symptoms of melioidosis within 1 to 4 weeks after you've been exposed to it. Some cases have developed symptoms months or years after exposure. 

 

Symptoms of disseminated infection include:

• Fever
• Headache
• Trouble breathing
• Stomach or chest pain
• Muscle pain
• Confusion
• Seizure

 

If you are diagnosed with melioidosis, doctors will decide how long you'll need treatment based on how bad the infection is. Treatment generally includes:

Intravenous (in the vein) antibiotics from 2 to 8 weeks, followed by

Oral (pills by mouth) antibiotics for 3 to 6 months

It's important to complete your treatment so that the infection goes away completely.

 

About Melioidosis | Melioidosis | CDC

 

https://www.cdc.gov/

 

[englishoak]

Yeah yeah.. life has all kinds of things that can kill you... big deal, get on with  life & stop caring about the pearl clutchers pretending it matters.. it dosnt.

[dinsdale]

5 hours ago, still kicking said:

Here comes the anti-vaxers 

What do vaccines have to do with something that is treated with anti-biotics. Try thinking before you post your usual nonsense.

[dinsdale]

Here's an AI overview that does a more defined job of risk factors than the article.

Individuals with diabetes, kidney disease, lung disease, and those on immunosuppressants are at higher risk. Farmers and those with open wounds are also at increased risk due to soil exposure. 

[novacova]

5 hours ago, still kicking said:

Here comes the anti-vaxers 

Here comes the pin cushions

[transam]

5 hours ago, still kicking said:

Here comes the anti-vaxers 

I was just thinking that.........😋

 

It will be..."Put them in the middle of a field and let nature cure them".............😝....🤭

[transam]

3 hours ago, faraday said:

There isn't a vaccine for Melioidosis.

 

They probably don't know that...........😁

[transam]

29 minutes ago, englishoak said:

Yeah yeah.. life has all kinds of things that can kill you... big deal, get on with  life & stop caring about the pearl clutchers pretending it matters.. it dosnt.

Eh...?  

You've no children then......🤔

[connda]

1 hour ago, impulse said:

This is one of those diseases that worries me because it can take weeks, months, or even years for symptoms to appear.  And the symptoms can be mistaken for so many other things.  Then, there's the treatment, which is weeks of IV antibiotics followed by months of oral antibiotics. 

 

And probably the scariest aspect is that I don't ever recall being swabbed and tested in a manner that would identify the cause.  It's always been "take this for a week and see how it works".  And that's on both sides of the pond.

 

The following comes from the US CDC website:

 

Melioidosis has a wide range of signs and symptoms. You usually develop symptoms of melioidosis within 1 to 4 weeks after you've been exposed to it. Some cases have developed symptoms months or years after exposure. 

 

Symptoms of disseminated infection include:

• Fever
• Headache
• Trouble breathing
• Stomach or chest pain
• Muscle pain
• Confusion
• Seizure

 

If you are diagnosed with melioidosis, doctors will decide how long you'll need treatment based on how bad the infection is. Treatment generally includes:

Intravenous (in the vein) antibiotics from 2 to 8 weeks, followed by

Oral (pills by mouth) antibiotics for 3 to 6 months

It's important to complete your treatment so that the infection goes away completely.

 

About Melioidosis | Melioidosis | CDC

 

https://www.cdc.gov/

 

Your chances of dying of Melioidosis:  0.0001028571429%
Your changes of dying on the Thai roads:  0.0254%

Put in a different form, instances of death per 100,000 people.
Melioidosis : 0.10286 per 100,000
Vehicle crash in Thailand: 25.4 per 100,000

 

Worriers gotta worry.  

[transam]

1 minute ago, connda said:

Your chances of dying of Melioidosis:  0.0001028571429%
Your changes of dying on the Thai roads:  0.0254%

Put in a different form, instances of death per 100,000 people.
Melioidosis : 0.10286 per 100,000
Vehicle crash in Thailand: 25.4 per 100,000

 

Worriers gotta worry.  

Who is worrying....?  🤗

[impulse]

11 minutes ago, connda said:

Your chances of dying of Melioidosis:  0.0001028571429%
Your changes of dying on the Thai roads:  0.0254%

Put in a different form, instances of death per 100,000 people.
Melioidosis : 0.10286 per 100,000
Vehicle crash in Thailand: 25.4 per 100,000

 

Worriers gotta worry.  

 

The difference, of course, is that auto accidents are easy to diagnose.  And it's not just the deaths.  It's quality of life.

 

Thinking back to hundreds of posts in dozens of health threads where posters complained of fatigue, cough or other "fuzzy" symptoms, I can't help but wonder how many of them may be walking around with less-than-fatal cases of melioidosis.  And have suffered for years.

 

[isaanistical]

Trying to ignore some of the wilder comments here, this is a bl**dy serious disease and it's not being addressed adequately.

eg: "From 1 January to 6 July 2025, Queensland Health has received 236 melioidosis notifications and recorded 34 deaths." (www.health.qld.gov.au).

Yes, that's a lower total than car crashes (about a quarter, for QLD). But nationally it's around a hundred deaths per year and growing, and it's not nice - in terms of catching it, it seems to be a blend of the flesh-eating jobbie and dengue fever (see https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/former-state-of-origin-player-sam-backo-in-intensive-care-with-melioidosis-infection/ar-AA1Ijyi4)

 

I'd say it was serious and worth taking precautions against.

[Will B Good]

 

Bu99er......spent most of yesterday in a water filled, muddy ditch I'd had to dig to repair an unground water leak.

 

Feel really ill now.

[Lacessit]

5 minutes ago, Will B Good said:

 

Bu99er......spent most of yesterday in a water filled, muddy ditch I'd had to dig to repair an unground water leak.

 

Feel really ill now.

I would have paid my GF's nephew 300 baht to do the digging for me.

[Will B Good]

10 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

I would have paid my GF's nephew 300 baht to do the digging for me.

 

Arrrggghhh!!!

 

Next time

[impulse]

20 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

I would have paid my GF's nephew 300 baht to do the digging for me.

 

He'd have done it for 200.

 

[connda]

48 minutes ago, isaanistical said:

Trying to ignore some of the wilder comments here, this is a bl**dy serious disease and it's not being addressed adequately.

eg: "From 1 January to 6 July 2025, Queensland Health has received 236 melioidosis notifications and recorded 34 deaths." (www.health.qld.gov.au).

Yes, that's a lower total than car crashes (about a quarter, for QLD). But nationally it's around a hundred deaths per year and growing, and it's not nice - in terms of catching it, it seems to be a blend of the flesh-eating jobbie and dengue fever (see https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/former-state-of-origin-player-sam-backo-in-intensive-care-with-melioidosis-infection/ar-AA1Ijyi4)

 

I'd say it was serious and worth taking precautions against.

48 minutes ago, isaanistical said:

I'd say it was serious and worth taking precautions against.

Worriers gotta worry.  If all of the various exotic diseases which can kill you were listed on this forum you people would melt into a pile of goo and never venture outside again.

Catching, no less dying from, this Milioidosis bacteria is so statistically improbable that worrying about it is irrational. Literally - you have a greater chance of getting struck by lightening:  0.0065% (6.5 per 100,000). (Source: https://www.weather.gov/safety/lightning-odds)  Melioidosis : 0.0001% (0.10286 per 100,000)

In fact, your chance of getting struck by lightening is over 60 times greater than contracting Milioidosis.

Actually kids, you have a better chance at winning the Thai lottery than contracting Melioidosis, that is if you aren't struck by lightening first. 

Thai Lottery win (6M THB): 0.001% (1 per 100,000)

Milioidosis death: 0.0001% (0.10286 per 100,000)

Thai Lottery Grand Prize win odds are ~9.72 times higher than death by Meliodosis odds.

Here. Want something to worry about?  You have about a 10% chance of being infected with intestinal worms!¹ Break out the albendazole and don't look at your poop! 

One more time:
Worriers gotta worry.  Mysophobics² gotta worry about diseases. 
 

1. Current status of helminthiases in Thailand: A cross-sectional, nationwide survey, 2019.
-Thailand Ministry of Public Health, Acta Tropica (2021)

1.Mysophobia is an irrational fear of germs, dirt, or contamination, leading to excessive cleaning, avoidance of perceived unclean environments, or intense anxiety about infection.

 

[connda]

1 hour ago, impulse said:

Thinking back to hundreds of posts in dozens of health threads where posters complained of fatigue, cough or other "fuzzy" symptoms, I can't help but wonder how many of them may be walking around with less-than-fatal cases of melioidosis.  And have suffered for years.

 

Nah.  They are probably dying of Long Covid.  Or Q Fever, or Strongyloidiasis, or Chikungunya, or Leptospirosis, or Japanese Encephalitis, or Scrub Typhus, or Zika, or Sparganosis, or Paragoniniasis, Angiostrongyliasis, or Capillariasis, or Gnathostomiasis.

Best to never set foot outside again, especially barefooted!!!   If fact, it's probably a good idea to book passage back to your clean home country ASAP, and pray you're not infected before you get to the airport!

[impulse]

5 minutes ago, connda said:

Catching, no less dying from, this Milioidosis bacteria is so statistically improbable that worrying about it is irrational. Literally - you have a greater chance of getting struck by lightening:  0.0065% (6.5 per 100,000). (Source: https://www.weather.gov/safety/lightning-odds)  Melioidosis : 0.0001% (0.10286 per 100,000)

 

Do you know that from statistical test results?

 

The post you're responding to indicates 236 reported case and 34 deaths.  That means there's 7 reported cases for every death.  But how many people are walking around not knowing they even have it?  All they know is that they're suffering life altering symptoms.  How many afflicted expats in Thailand just think they're getting old?

 

It would be interesting to see a study of test results in the general population and (perhaps) in the patients reporting symptoms on the list.  Then (and only then) could we reasonably make the statement you did.

 

[novacova]

1 hour ago, Will B Good said:

 

Bu99er......spent most of yesterday in a water filled, muddy ditch I'd had to dig to repair an unground water leak.

 

Feel really ill now.

Did you pick up any leeches?

[impulse]

1 minute ago, connda said:

Nah.  They are probably dying of Long Covid.  Or Q Fever, or Strongyloidiasis, or Chikungunya, or Leptospirosis, or Japanese Encephalitis, or Scrub Typhus, or Zika, or Sparganosis, or Paragoniniasis, Angiostrongyliasis, or Capillariasis, or Gnathostomiasis.

Best to never set foot outside again, especially barefooted!!!   If fact, it's probably a good idea to book passage back to your clean home country ASAP, and pray you're not infected before you get to the airport!

 

Or maybe get tested instead of taking the myriad pills the doctors tend to issue to patients reporting the symptoms.  I'd gladly pay, even a few thousand USD, if any hospital offered a suite of tests for tropical diseases.  But they just send me home with a wad of pills. 

 

 

[Will B Good]

1 minute ago, novacova said:

Did you pick up any leeches?

 

Funnily enough I have just bought steel capped, builders wellies and put them to good use.

 

Trying to work in Thai mud in flip flops is an idiots game I've played far too long.

[unblocktheplanet]

3 hours ago, impulse said:

This is one of those diseases that worries me because it can take weeks, months, or even years for symptoms to appear.  And the symptoms can be mistaken for so many other things.  Then, there's the treatment, which is weeks of IV antibiotics followed by months of oral antibiotics. 

 

And probably the scariest aspect is that I don't ever recall being swabbed and tested in a manner that would identify the cause.  It's always been "take this for a week and see how it works".  And that's on both sides of the pond.

 

The following comes from the US CDC website:

 

Melioidosis has a wide range of signs and symptoms. You usually develop symptoms of melioidosis within 1 to 4 weeks after you've been exposed to it. Some cases have developed symptoms months or years after exposure. 

 

Symptoms of disseminated infection include:

• Fever
• Headache
• Trouble breathing
• Stomach or chest pain
• Muscle pain
• Confusion
• Seizure

 

If you are diagnosed with melioidosis, doctors will decide how long you'll need treatment based on how bad the infection is. Treatment generally includes:

Intravenous (in the vein) antibiotics from 2 to 8 weeks, followed by

Oral (pills by mouth) antibiotics for 3 to 6 months

It's important to complete your treatment so that the infection goes away completely.

 

About Melioidosis | Melioidosis | CDC

 

https://www.cdc.gov/

 

Bangkok???

[connda]

17 minutes ago, impulse said:

The post you're responding to indicates 236 reported case and 34 deaths. That means there's 7 reported cases for every death.  But how many people are walking around not knowing they even have it?  All they know is that they're suffering life altering symptoms. 

All my responses are to the original article which states, "Current statistics indicate 1,676 infections and 72 fatalities," which is 23 cases per death - out of a population in excess of 70 million people.

Really, if you want to put on the Mysophobic's hypochondria hat, then there are a lot more exotic diseases in Thailand to worry about.  Why limit yourselves to just one!

People could be walking around with Q Fever, or Strongyloidiasis, or Chikungunya, or Leptospirosis, or Japanese Encephalitis, or Scrub Typhus, or Zika, or Sparganosis, or Paragoniniasis, Angiostrongyliasis, or Capillariasis, or Gnathostomiasis - or Long Covid and not know it.  Or <drum roll> Leprosy with an incidence (2015) of: 0.22 per 100,000  which makes it ~2 times more likely to contract than Melioidosis.  Are ya'll afraid of contracting Leprosy?  

Ya'll talk about "Quality of Life." 
Have you any idea what the adverse effects of constant, irrational fear of exotic diseases which you have a lower chance of contracting than getting hit my lightening or winning the Thai Lottery are?

Ya'll do know why articles like this one are published?  They scare the bejesus out of hypochondriacs, especially Western "clean-freak" hypochondriacs. 

[connda]

27 minutes ago, impulse said:

Or maybe get tested instead of taking the myriad pills the doctors tend to issue to patients reporting the symptoms.  I'd gladly pay, even a few thousand USD, if any hospital offered a suite of tests for tropical diseases. 

Your probably just better off moving back to a temperate climate where all you have to worry about is dying of Covid.

[spidermike007]

I try to live my life in such a way that I don't obsess or worry over things that I have very little control over, and I try not to be a hypochondriac. I also tend to avoid muddy areas and I don't like inhaling dust. Ha!