A new rapid test co-developed by the Wellcome Sanger Institute could help save some of the 89,000 lives lost each year to a neglected tropical disease. Melioidosis affects an estimated 165,000 people worldwide annually and is caused by the bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei, which lives in soil and water in tropical and subtropical regions and can enter the body through skin abrasions, ingestion or inhalation. Many of those affected die before they diagnosis. Diagnosis is complicated because the symptoms vary, from localised abscess or pneumonia to acute septicaemia, or it can present as a ch…
