Melioidosis is an emerging infectious disease caused by the soil bacterium 
Burkholderia pseudomallei. In diagnostic and forensic settings, molecular 
detection assays need not only high sensitivity with low limits of detection but 
also high specificity. In a direct comparison of published and newly developed 
TaqMan PCR assays, we found the TTS1-orf2 assay to be superior in detecting B. 
pseudomallei directly from clinical specimens. The YLF/BTFC multiplex assay 
(targeting the Yersinia-like fimbrial/Burkholderia thailandensis-like flagellum 
and chemotaxis region) also showed high diagnostic sensitivity and provides 
additional information on possible geographic origin.