Two men fell gravely ill last year; their infections link to deaths in the ’80s

Four men in Georgia, linked by a shared bacterial strain of the lethal soil bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei, were infected over decades, with the first case in 1983 and the last two in September 2024. Researchers suggest this bacterium has been present in the area all along, with its recent resurgence potentially triggered by Hurricane Helene.

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