Burkholderia pseudomallei: Challenges for the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory—a Response from the Front Line

The minireview by Hemajarata et al. (1) is timely since the global incidence of melioidosis has probably been grossly underestimated (2). However, the review reflects a very U.S. “select agent”-orientated perspective. In some parts of the world, laboratories isolate Burkholderia pseudomallei on an almost daily basis; our own laboratories diagnose more than 600 cases of culture-positive melioidosis each year, giving us a different perspective.