A made-in-India aromatherapy spray is being pulled off retail giant Walmart’s shelves in the United States after a medical investigation linked it to melioidosis, a rare disease that has sickened at least four, and may have caused two deaths, in the country. The spray was reported to contain a bacterium, Burkholderia pseudomallei, that causes a rare but deadly disease called melioidosis, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said in a statement on Friday. Other than mentioning that the spray was manufactured in India, no other details on the spray’s origins were disclosed. The contaminated spray was sold at 55 Walmart stores on the company’s website from February to October 21 of this year, when Walmart pulled the remaining bottles of the spray and related products from its store shelves. Melioidosis is a rare but serious disease in the United States with 12 cases reported annually.

Source: The Hindu October 23, 2021 18:08 UTC