Melioidosis, an infectious disease caused by the Gram-negative bacterium 
Burkholderia pseudomallei, is now recognized as an important public health 
problem in Southeast Asia and tropical northern Australia. Although B. 
pseudomallei has been detected in various water and soil samples in southeast 
China, the enviromental distribution of B. pseudomallei in China is unclear. In 
the winter months of 2007, 154 and 130 soil and water samples, respectively, 
were collected from several locations in Guangxi, China. The samples were 
screened for B. pseudomallei by bacterial culture and identification and 
confirmed by PCR for species-specific 16S rDNA and flagellin genes. B. 
pseudomallei was detected in 8.4% of the soil samples but in none of the water 
samples. All positive samples were confined to a single low-lying region from 
rice paddy fields. Counts of B. pseudomallei ranged from 23 to 521 c.f.u./g 
soil. This is the first geographical distribution survey of B. pseudomallei in 
soil in Guangxi, China, and the data are of importance for further evaluating 
the impact of this pathogen on melioidosis in this region.