Burkholderia pseudomallei ,the causative agent of melioidosis. causes significant morbidity and mortality in tropical and subtropical regions including Northern Australia. Modelling estimates suggest that at least 169,000 cases a year are seen worldwide with up to 85,000 deaths. This talk will summarise the current knowledge as it relates to this disease. Culture remains the mainstay of diagnosis. There have been recent advances in using the MALDI-TOF (Vitek MS or Bruker) as the sole method of identification. This enables high diagnostic accuracy of B. pseudomallei isolates within minutes. Moreover, methodology exists to utilise this instrument for organism identification directly from blood cultures. There is interest in a recently developed lateral flow antigen assay for the direct detection of the organism from clinical samples. Direct molecular detection from blood , without culture amplification,,remains challenging. There has been progress in the development of peptide based vaccines and outer membrane vesicle candidates. The organism is a Tier 1 agent in the United States. In Australia it is a Risk Group 2 agent. requiring handling in a BSL 2 cabinet. The risk of transmissibility within laboratories in Australia has been shown to be negligible.