Melioidosis was first recognized in northeastern Brazil in 2003. Confirmation of additional cases from the 2003 cluster in Ceará, more recent cases in other districts, environmental isolation of Burkholderia pseudomallei, molecular confirmation and typing results, and positive serosurveillance specimens indicate that melioidosis is more widespread in northeastern Brazil than previously thought.

Burkholderia pseudomallei has rarely been isolated from environmental and clinical specimens in South America, particularly, in Brazil. This report describes a case of melioidosis with fulminant sepsis in a 10 year old boy, from rural area, in Tejuçuoca, State of Ceará, Brazil. Blood samples were positive and, through the analysis of results from biochemical tests and of drugs susceptibility profile, identified this gram-negative bacillus as B. pseudomallei. The contamination source remains obscure in this case, as soil and water tanks samples submitted to microbiological analyses did not indicate the presence of B. pseudomallei.

Melioidosis was first recognized in northeastern Brazil in 2003. Confirmation of additional cases from the 2003 cluster in Ceará, more recent cases in other districts, environmental isolation of Burkholderia pseudomallei, molecular confirmation and typing results, and positive serosurveillance specimens indicate that melioidosis is more widespread in northeastern Brazil than previously thought.

Aims:  To examine the virulence factors and the genetic relationship isolates of the serogroup O3 of Vibrio parahaemolyticus in outbreaks of diarrhoea in the northeast region of Brazil. Methods and Results:  Eighteen samples of the O3:K6 and O3:KUT serotypes of V. parahaemolyticus were analysed by multiplex polymerase chain reaction (m‐PCR) for detection of the tl, tdh and trh genes, by random‐amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) using two primers, and by amplification of the rDNA 16S–23S region. The gene tl was amplified in all the samples, tdh in 16 while trh in none; amplification of rDNA 16S–23S generated only one profile; each RAPD primer produced two amplification patterns allowing grouping two tdh– Kanagawa‐negative isolates. Conclusions:  V. parahaemolyticus with characteristics of the pandemic clone appears to be widely disseminated in the studied region. Because of the genetic uniformity of the isolates, elucidation of outbreaks or tracking the source of contamination by the present molecular techniques seems useless. Significance and Impact of the Study:  Detection of V. parahaemolyticus with virulence potential of pandemic clone from two outbreaks and from several isolated gastroenteritis cases points out the need for inclusion of this micro‐organism in the Brazilian routine monitoring of the diarrhoeas for elucidation of their aetiology.