Findings of a new study have revealed that a potentially fatal bacteria can be picked up just by sniffing, and can travel to the brain and spinal cord in as little as one day.
The bacteria Burkholderia pseudomallei is known to cause melioidosis, an infectious disease that kills about 89,000 people globally per year.
Also known as Whitmore's disease, the condition infects both humans and animals and is prevalent in regions with tropical climates. It is particularly widespread in Southeast Asia and Northern Australia, where individuals infected with melioidosis have between 20 and 50 percent likelihood of dying once the bacteria infect the brain. Melioidosis-related mortality rate can reach up to 50 percent in countries like Cambodia.
Burkholderia pseudomallei is present in contaminated water and soil. It is commonly found in populated areas in Northern Australia during the wet season, prompting authorities to warn residents to keep away from mud, groundwater and aerosolized soil.
Individuals with diabetes, skin wounds and chronic renal disease are at increased risk for contracting melioidosis.
What is most scary about the bacteria is that infected individuals do not know they have contracted the pathogen, which could have deadly consequences just a day later.
Health experts previously do not understand how this pathogen travel to the brain and spinal cord and how fast. Findings of a new study using lab mice, however, have revealed that the bacteria can be transmitted from the nasal cavity nerves to the brain and spinal cord within 24 hours.
"After intranasal inoculation of mice, B. pseudomallei caused low-level localized infection within the nasal cavity epithelium, prior to invasion of the trigeminal nerve in small numbers. B. pseudomallei rapidly invaded the trigeminal nerve and crossed the astrocytic barrier to enter the brainstem within 24 hours and then rapidly progressed over 2,000 μm into the spinal cord," the researchers reported in their study, which was published in the journal Infection and Immunity.
Study researcher Ifor Beacham from Griffith University's Institute for Glycomics, said that it has long been known that the olfactory mucosa, which can be found in the nose and lies close to the brain, serves as a pathway for viruses to reach the brain and their study provided evidence of a bacterium being transmitted from the olfactory mucosa to the central nervous system.
"Our latest results represent the first direct demonstration of transit of a bacterium from the olfactory mucosa to the central nervous system (CNS) via the trigeminal nerve," Beacham said.
The researchers will proceed with finding ways to remove the bacteria after discovering this pathway.
