Walmart recalls aromatherapy room spray after 2 deaths [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Walmart is recalling an aromatherapy room spray due to the risk of potentially deadly bacteria.
• The CDC announced Friday that the bacteria that may be in the bottles can cause a potentially fatal condition called melioidosis.
• The agency tested the spray and investigated four cases of melioidosis in the US, including two that were fatal.

Walmart is recalling room spray sold nationwide due to the possible presence of a “rare and dangerous” bacteria that is linked to two deaths, including a child.

The retailer sold about 3,900 bottles of Better Homes and Gardens-branded-Essential Oil Infused Aromatherapy Room Spray with Gemstones in six different scents, the Consumer Protection Safety Commission posted Friday.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tested a sample of the product this week and found it contained the bacteria Burkholderia pseudomallei, which causes melioidosis, a rare but serious disease with about a dozen cases reported annually in the U.S. 

The recall comes two months after the CDC warned the bacterial disease had caused two deaths and urged doctors to be on the lookout for more cases.

Consumers are urged not to use — or even open — the recalled spray. Instead, they are advised to wear gloves and double bag the bottles in zip-top clear resealable bags, which should be placed in a small cardboard box and returned to a Walmart store for a refund. The company is also offering a $20 Walmart gift card for customers who return the product. 

Any surfaces or fabrics that may have been sprayed with the product would be wiped down or washed.

The five-ounce glass bottles of room spray retailed for about $4 each and were sold in about 55 stores and online from February through October.

Walmart has stopped selling the product, which was made in India and sold with a pump spray nozzle.

The bacteria detected in the bottles is the same type that sickened four people earlier this year, with one of the recalled sprays found October 6 in the home of a Georgia resident stricken with melioidosis in late July, according to the agency.

The CDC is conducting tests to determine if the genetic fingerprint of the bacteria in the bottle matches those found in three other patients, the agency said Friday in a statement.

The U.S. Department of Defense in June awarded a $3 million contract to the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s School of Life Sciences to develop a vaccine for melioidosis, which experts say can be a potential bioterrorism threat. 

Source: CBS News