If the car doesnt kill you, the highway will ?

There are no firm conclusions for why there has been a sudden increase in melioidosis cases in Far North Queensland.

But one theory — documented by Dr Smith and backed by other medical experts and scientists — centres around the staged Bruce Highway upgrade that runs almost 20 kilometres through the muddy plains south of Cairns.

The multi-billion-dollar project commenced in 2010, with more than a decade of construction works stirring up a clay-like soil believed to harbour the bacteria.