Glanders
Glanders is a contagious disease of equids caused by the bacterium Burkholderia mallei. It can also infect humans, producing acute or chronic illness.
Burkholderia mallei: A nonmotile, Gram-negative bacterium that causes glanders in equids and humans. This bacterium is the causative agent of glanders.
Glanders in horses: Glanders infection in horses, often chronic and marked by nasal, pulmonary, or cutaneous lesions. Horses commonly develop chronic disease and can sustain transmission.
Glanders in antiquity: Historical accounts of glanders-like disease in equids from the ancient Mediterranean world. Descriptions of equine nasal disease appear long before the bacterium was identified.
Farcy: The cutaneous form of glanders, characterized by nodules and ulcerating lymphatic vessels. Farcy is the classic skin manifestation that gave glanders its varied clinical picture.
Burkholderia pseudomallei: A bacterium that causes melioidosis in humans and animals, especially in tropical regions. It is a close relative of B. mallei and can complicate laboratory identification.
Glanders in humans: Human infection with Burkholderia mallei, acquired mainly through contact with infected animals or their tissues. Human cases arise from animal exposure and may be acute, chronic, or fatal.
Friedrich Löffler: A German bacteriologist who co-discovered the glanders bacillus with Wilhelm Schütz in 1882. Löffler's work established the bacterial cause of glanders.
Zoonosis: An infectious disease that can pass naturally between vertebrate animals and humans. Glanders is a zoonosis with occupational risks for people handling infected equids.
Glanders transmission: The spread of Burkholderia mallei through infectious secretions, contaminated materials, or tissue exposure. Transmission explains how infection moves among equids and occasionally reaches people.
Glanders treatment: The medical management of glanders, centered on prolonged antimicrobial therapy for human cases and veterinary control measures. Treatment choices differ sharply between human patients and infected livestock.