Hydrological connectivity and Burkholderia pseudomallei prevalence in wetland environments: investigating rice-farming community's risk of exposure to melioidosis in North-East Thailand.

In our analysis of 136 water samples from wetland environments (rice paddies, natural wetland sites, man-made water bodies) in rural areas of North-East Thailand, Burkholderia pseudomallei was most prevalent in rice paddies (15 of the 30 positive sites). The high prevalence in the water of rice fields is indicative of the inherent vulnerability of farmers in rural agricultural areas in this area of Thailand and likely other locations in the tropics. Nearly all B.