Glanders

Glanders is a contagious, zoonotic infectious disease caused by the bacterium Burkholderia mallei, which primarily occurs in horses, mules, and donkeys, but can also be contracted by dogs and cats, pigs, goats, and humans. The term glanders derives from the Middle English word glaundres and from the Old French word glandres, which both denote glands. Other terms for the glanders disease are the Latin: malleus, the Spanish: muermo, the German: Rotz, and the Norwegian: snive.

Glanders is endemic in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Central and South America. Elsewhere, glanders has been eradicated in North America, Australia, and most of Europe, by way of the zoological observation and destruction of infected and sick animals and quarantine restrictions upon the importation of said animals. Occurrences of glanders had not been reported in the U.S. since 1945, until a laboratory accident in 2000, wherein a laboratory researcher was accidentally exposed to Burkholderia mallei bacteria. In the U.K., glanders is a notifiable disease, and there have been no occurrences reported since 1928.

Presentation

Signs of glanders include the formation of nodular lesions in the lungs and ulceration of the mucous membranes in the upper respiratory tract. The acute form of glanders results in coughing, fever, and the release of an infectious nasal discharge, followed by septicaemia and death within days. In the chronic form of glanders, nasal and subcutaneous nodules develop, eventually ulcerating; death can occur within months, while survivors act as carriers.