SYDNEY (AFP) – A soil-dwelling bacteria has killed 14 people in Australia’s flood-hit state of Queensland, officials said, as health experts investigate what caused the outbreak.
Melioidosis, a rare antibiotic-resistant disease caused by bacteria found in soil or mud, often surfaces in tropical areas after heavy rain or flooding.
While cases have occurred in Queensland in previous years, the state’s Tropical Public Health Services director Jacqueline Murdoch said 2025 “absolutely is a record-breaking year”.
“Certainly we haven’t seen anything like this,” she told national broadcaster ABC this week.
There have been 94 total infections in the state since the start of the year, Queensland Health data shows.
Infection only occurs if the disease is inhaled or enters a person’s bloodstream, and most of the patients contracted the disease by breathing it in, Murdoch said.
