Darwin: Deadly soil disease warning

A woman contracted a deadly disease, probably from her friend’s back lawn in Humpty Doo.

She said she had been walking with cracked feet on the damp, reticulated lawn.

She had to cut her holiday short at Broome, when she was airlifted to Perth and spent three months in hospital with septic arthritis.

The disease melioidosis, caused by a soil bacteria said to be common in Darwin parks and gardens, can be easily caught in damp, warm conditions.

It has killed four people in the NT this wet season.

Northern Territory News [read this story]

Tags: Environment, Health & medicine