A 22 year old male graduate student just returned from the Arizona desert, where

Question

A 22 year old male graduate student just returned from the Arizona desert, where he studied the behavior within prairie dog colonies. His left armpit has been extremely sore for several days, and he just started to wheeze during breathing. You immediately start antibiotics and hope for the best. As the patient recovers, his sputum culture revealed distinct safety pin cell morphology. What did disease did the guy have and what caused it? What do you think infected him, and what "growths" causing the soreness in his armpit called?

Now that you have your case explain how you will test your sterilization technique.

Explanation / Answer

The bacterium Burkholderia pseudomalle causes Melioidosis which is also called Whitmore's Disease. It is a  Gram negative, saprophytic soil bacterium and is oxidase positive. Contact with contaminated water and soil cause the spread of the disease. Soreness in armpits is to due swelling of lymph nodes.

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