Melioidosis is an infectious disease caused by Burkholderia pseudomallei, a Gram-negative bacillus. It is endemic to southeast Asia and northern Australia as well as regions between 20° latitude north and south of the equator. The clinical manifestation varies from a latent infection with an incubation period of up to 29 years to fulminant sepsis with a high mortality rate.1 We report a case of endogenous endophthalmitis caused by B pseudomallei with a fulminant course.
A 70-year-old Chinese male veteran living in southern Taiwan had a medical history that included controlled diabetes mellitus for more than 10 years and coronary artery disease after bypass-graft surgery 2 years previously. Ocular history included herpetic keratouveitis in the right eye 4 years previously with residual corneal opacity, bilateral senile cataract, and bilateral nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy. Ocular trauma and operation history were not reported.