Glanders

GLANDERS
ABHIJITH SP
CVAS POOKODE

INTRODUCTION
• Glanders is a contagious disease caused by Burkholderia mallei, a gram negative, non-motile, non-
encapsulated and non-spore forming bacillus in the bacterial family Burkholderiaceae. It has been
recognized for millennia as a disease of equidae and humans.
• Glanders can also affect Felidae, small ruminants, camels, bears and walruses. In 1934, glanders
was officially eradicated in domestic animals in the USA. The disease has been eradicated in
North America, Australia and Europe through import control measures coupled with testing and
elimination of any infected animals.
• However, Glanders continues to be present in a number of Asian, African, Middle Eastern, and
South American countries.
• Recent outbreaks in countries from which it was previously eradicated indicate that Glanders is
no longer as geographically restricted in terms of its global distribution.
• Glanders is an OIE listed equine disease and a transboundary disease in the USA. As such, it is
immediately reportable to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and State
Animal Health Officials in all 50 states and territories.
06-10-2020ABHIJITH SP CVAS POOKODE 2

AETIOLOGY
• Glanders results from infection by Burkholderia mallei, a
Gram negative rod in the family Burkholderiaceae.
• This organism was formerly known as Pseudomonas mallei.
• It is closely related to and appears to have evolved from
the agent of melioidosis, Burkholderia pseudomallei.
• Also called as GLANDERS BACILLUS.

MORPHOLOGY
• Gram negative, rod shaped bacteria
• On sub-culturing acquires pleomorphism
• Non spore forming and non-acid fast
• Non-motile and non-capsulated

CULTURAL CHARACTERS
• Very strict aerobes, growth occurs at wide range of temperature 5-420C.
• Better growth in media supplemented with 1% glycerol or serum
• B. mallei growth is very slow; the colonies are smooth, and white to cream.
• B. mallei cannot be grown on MacConkey agar.
• Grow on Potato glycerol agar
• Grow on Potato glycerol broth. Slight turbidity with slimy pellicle. On ageing broth gets brown color.
• No hemolysis on blood agar, No pigment production , Colony odour negative.
• Do not liquefy Gelatin
• All ferment glucose and produce less acid. Sucrose and lactose negative

SUSCEPTIBLE HOST
• The major hosts for B. mallei are horses, mules and donkeys.
• pigs and cattle were reported to be resistant.
• Birds are highly resistant.
• Members of the cat family seem to be particularly susceptible, with cases
documented in domesticated cats, tigers, lions, leopards and other felids.
• Deaths have also been reported in other carnivores that ate glanderous meat,
including dogs, bears, wolves, jackals and hyenas, and clinical cases were described in
dromedary camels

TRANSMISSION
• Direct physical contact with horses affected with nasal or pulmonary forms
of the disease.
• Indirectly through ingestion of food or water contaminated with discharges
from an infected animal. It can also be contracted through shared feed or
water containers, tack, grooming equipment and other fomites

Zoonotic Aspect
• B. mallei affects humans.
• Glanders is an occupational concern for veterinarians, farriers, and other animal workers, as well
as laboratory personnel.
• Dogs, cats and small ruminants such as goats, can be infective and transmit disease to humans.
• Infection with B. mallei is very painful and can be fatal. Humans can develop a chronic or acute
form with nodules and abscessation similar to animals.
• Nodules may be seen on the face, legs, arms and nasal mucosa, progressing to pyemia, metastatic
pneumonia, and not infrequently death.
• Without antibiotic treatment, disease in humans is fatal; untreated acute disease in humans has a
95% mortality rate within 3 weeks. With antibiotic treatment, the prognosis is more favorable.

INCUBATION PERIOD
• In natural infection, the incubation period can be weeks to months; it varies
according to route and extent of exposure, and host and environmental
factors.
• The incubation period in equids is reported to range from a few days to
many months, but many cases become apparent in 2-6 weeks. Infections can
be latent for varying periods. Experimental infections can result in fever after
a day or two, and other clinical signs after 3 days. Less is known about the
incubation period in other species; however, some cats developed clinical
signs 8-14 days after eating infected meat

PATHOGENESIS
• Bacteria gain entry through upper respiratory tract or through contaminated
food.
• Systemic circulation replication and attach to lymphatics and produce farcy
buds in a row……which leads to farcy codes…appearance..
• This burst and produce ulceration and necrosis of tissue.
• Oily pus formed in the nasal tract get discharged and they break the cilia.
• Animal will be prone to Strangles.

CLINICAL SIGNS
• Glanders can present in several forms, nasal, pulmonary and cutaneous,
depending on the location of the primary lesion. The course of the disease
may be acute or chronic. Acutely affected horses usually die within a few days
to several weeks. Clinical signs associated with early infection or sub-
clinically/asymptomatically infected carriers (Occult Glanders) can be non-
specific or non-existent, emphasizing the importance of these horses as a
source of infection.

OILY TYPE PUS

CUTANEOUS FORM,FARCY BUDS

Begins with high fever, inappetence, dyspnea and coughing
•A highly infectious, viscous, yellowish-green, mucopurulent or
sanguine purulent nasal discharge
•Purulent ocular discharge
•Nodules in nasal, pharyngeal or tracheal mucosa may produce
visible ulceration and form stellate scars
•Regional lymph nodes are enlarged and indurated
NASAL FORM

Usually requires several months to develop; first
manifests itself through fever, dyspnea, paroxysmal
coughing or a persistent dry cough
Diarrhea and polyuria may also occur; all leading to a
progressive loss of condition
PULMONARY FORM

Develops insidiously over an extended period.
•Initially coughing, dyspnea, fever, lymph adenomegaly and lymphangitis leading
to weight loss and debilitation.
•Subcutaneous nodules develop along lymphatics of the face, legs, costal region
or ventral abdomen.
•Nodules may rupture and ulcerate resulting in multifocal dermatitis.
CUTANEOUS FORM (FARCY)
Occult Glanders
•Horses which are sub-clinically/asymptomatically infected and
can be carriers

MACROSCOPIC LESIONS
• Nodules, granulomas and/or ulcers may be detected in various tissues of equids with glanders.
Glanders nodules are firm, round and usually about 1 cm. in diameter, with a caseous or calcified
center. They are typically surrounded by areas of inflammation. The upper respiratory tract is
often affected, with ulcers, nodules and/or stellate scars in the nasal passages, larynx and other
tissues. Internally, nodules are most likely to be found in the lungs, particularly beneath the pleura.
The lungs may also contain diffuse miliary granulomatous nodules, and in acute or exacerbated
cases, there may be evidence of severe bronchopneumonia. In addition, nodules and other
lesions may be detected in other visceral organs, particularly the liver and spleen. Some animals
have had bone lesions, and abscesses were found in the muscles of infected racehorses. Swollen
lymphatics, with chains of nodules and ulcerated nodules, may be noted in the skin, while the
lymph nodes may be enlarged, congested and/or fibrotic, and can contain abscesses. Orchitis
may be seen in males.
• Similar lesions have been reported in other species

MICROSCOPIC LESIONS

DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS
• Melioidosis (B. pseudomallei), strangles, ulcerative lymphangitis, epizootic
lymphangitis, tuberculosis, sporotrichosis, botryomycosis and horse pox.

DIAGNOSIS
• 1. A hypersensitivity reaction called the mallein test was used in glanders eradication
programs, and is still used to detect infected equids in some countries. In the 3
versions of the mallein test, a protein fraction of B. mallei is either injected into the
eyelid (intradermo-palpebral test), administered in eyedrops, or injected
subcutaneously at a site other than the eye. The intradermo-palpebral test is
considered to be the most reliable and sensitive version.
• 2. Glanders can be diagnosed by culturing B. mallei from lesions, lymph nodes, and
nasal or other respiratory exudates. This organism is uncommonly detected in
blood. Bacteriological diagnosis can be difficult when the animal is in the early
stages of disease or subclinically infected.

DIAGNOSIS
• 3. Complement fixation and ELISAs are currently considered to be the most
accurate and reliable assays in equids, although other tests may also meet this
standard once they have been fully evaluated.
• 4. History, Clinical signs and lesions (Numerous abscesses in lungs, liver, spleen,
lymph nodes)
• 5. Confirmation- Isolation and identification
• 6. Allergic test- MALLEIN test in humans
• 7. FAT for antigen detection in tissues

TREATMENT
• treatment is often not allowed outside endemic areas. Treatment can be risky
even in these regions, as infections can spread to humans and other animals,
and treated animals may become asymptomatic carriers.
• Designing effective treatments for glanders is complicated by differences in
antibiotic susceptibility patterns between B. mallei isolates, and the inability of
some drugs to penetrate into the host cells where this organism replicates.
Treatment protocols that might be able to eliminate B. mallei have been
published recently, but they have not yet been fully evaluated. Some require
treatment for several months, using multiple drugs

PREVENTION AND CONTROL
• test positive are usually euthanized, and the premises are quarantined, cleaned
and disinfected. Carcasses, contaminated bedding and food should be safely
destroyed (e.g., burned or buried), and equipment and other fomites should
be disinfected. Import testing (e.g., by serology) is used to help exclude
infected animals from regions where glanders has been eliminated.
• In endemic areas, susceptible animals should be kept away from communal
feeding and watering areas, since glanders is more common where animals
congregate. Routine testing and euthanasia of infected animals can eradicate
the disease or reduce its incidence

FACTS AND TIPS.

Glanders

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