new environmental bacteria has been found in U.S. soil and water for the first time, and in some cases it can cause a rare but serious disease called melioidosis, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Wednesday in a press release. 

The bacteria, called Burkholderia pseudomallei, has historically been found in more tropical climates, like in South and Southeast Asia, and northern Australia, the CDC said. And while the U.S. typically sees about 12 cases a year, they're in Americans who become infected with the bacteria while traveling. 

But, after two people in the Gulf Coast region got sick with melioidosis—one in 2020 and a second in 2022—the CDC and Mississippi State Department of Health ran tests and found that the bacteria was now present in the U.S., too. 

"We hadn't thought that the bacteria was in the soil in the United States," Beth Thielen, PhD, MD assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Minnesota, and adult and pediatric infectious disease physician for M Health Fairview, told Health. "Typically the cases that we would see would be acquired abroad in people who have traveled and traveled back to the US. So the part that is new is finding it here."

Now that this bacteria may be infecting people living in the Gulf Coast region, the CDC is warning medical professionals to consider melioidosis as a possible cause of symptoms like fever, joint pain, chest pain, and more. This is particularly important considering that the disease can be quite severe, especially in people who are immunocompromised.

Though this disease is quite rare, here's what we know about melioidosis, the environmental bacteria that causes it, and how to keep yourself protected.