{"id":431242,"date":"2026-01-23T02:19:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T02:19:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/431242\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T02:19:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T02:19:16","slug":"fresh-melioidosis-infections-spark-warnings-for-north-queensland-flood-clean-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/431242\/","title":{"rendered":"Fresh melioidosis infections spark warnings for North Queensland flood clean-up"},"content":{"rendered":"

Four people have been hospitalised with a potentially fatal soil-borne illness in North Queensland as the clean-up from a week of heavy rain continues.<\/p>\n

Two people from the small community of Armstrong Beach in \u00a0Mackay’s south, one from Seaforth north of Mackay, and another from Bowen in the Whitsunday region are all being treated for melioidosis at the Mackay Base Hospital.\u00a0<\/p>\n

All four people, aged between 67 and 89, had been exposed to mud or recent floodwaters.<\/p>\n

\"Bacteria<\/p>\n

The bacteria Burkholderia pseudomallei that causes melioidosis. (Supplied: Robert Norton)<\/p>\n

As of January 19, 16 cases of the disease were confirmed across Queensland: six in Cairns and surrounds, five in the Townsville region, one in the Mackay region and another one in the Torres and Cape regions.<\/p>\n

But with the area around Mackay seeing new infections, the director of the Mackay Public Health Unit, Steven Donohue, said the diagnoses were a timely warning for people still cleaning up after ex-Tropical Cyclone Koji.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Steven Donohue says melioidosis is just one of many infections possible after exposure to floodwater or soil. (ABC News)<\/p>\n

Dr Donohue said the bacteria typically entered through a skin break or by breathing in muddy droplets.<\/p>\n

“People at most risk of contracting melioidosis are already unwell, elderly or have existing chronic conditions such as diabetes or kidney disease,” he said.<\/p>\n

From January to November in 2025, 36 people died with the illness, compared to nine people from both melioidosis and fellow bacterial disease glanders in 2022.<\/p>\n

Dr Donohue said while the illness was potentially fatal, the cases were not cause for alarm.<\/p>\n

“Early diagnosis and treatment with antibiotics can be life-saving,” he said.<\/p>\n

Case numbers rise<\/p>\n

A broader public health campaign from Queensland Health has begun, and investigations are underway to find the cause<\/a> of the 2025 outbreak.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Michael Clements says the heavy rain has brought the bacteria to the surface. (Supplied:\u00a0Royal Australian College of General Practitioners)<\/p>\n

Rural Chair of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, Michael Clements, said the clean-up after a flooding event was a particularly risky time for contracting the illness.<\/p>\n

“A week’s worth of rain has brought that bacteria to the surface,” Dr Clements said.<\/p>\n

“If we breathe in some of the bacteria because we’ve been pressure washing or spraying or even mowing the lawn, there’s a risk there.”<\/p>\n

He said it was best practice for people cleaning up to either cover their legs or wear a mask, depending on the task.<\/p>\n

“Sometimes melioidosis presents very late: it can be deadly, and we need to respect it.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The clean-up after ex-Tropical Cyclone Koji has sparked warnings for residents to protect themselves. (ABC News: Johanna Marie)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Four people have been hospitalised with a potentially fatal soil-borne illness in North Queensland as the clean-up from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":431243,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[64,63,225767,225766,137,225768,36091,225765],"class_list":["post-431242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-clean-up-after-cyclone-koji","tag-flood-clean-up","tag-health","tag-health-authorities-warn","tag-melioidosis","tag-soil-borne-bacteria"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=431242"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431242\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/431243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=431242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=431242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=431242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}