Glanders is a contagious zoonotic infectious disease that occurs primarily in horses, mules, and donkeys. It can be contracted by other animals, such as dogs, cats, pigs, goats, and humans. It is caused by infection with the bacterium Burkholderia mallei. Glanders is endemic in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Central and South America. It has been eradicated from North America, Australia, and most of Europe through surveillance and destruction of affected animals, and import restrictions. Glanders has not been reported in the United States since 1945, except in 2000, when an American lab researcher had an accidental exposure in the lab. It is a notifiable disease in the UK, although it has not been reported there since 1928. The term is from Middle English glaundres or Old French glandres, both meaning glands. Other terms include Latin: malleus, Spanish: muermo, German: Rotz and Norwegian: snive. 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 results in coughing, fever, and the release of an infectious nasal discharge, followed by septicaemia and death within days. In the chronic form, nasal and subcutaneous nodules develop, eventually ulcerating; death can occur within months, while survivors act as carriers. Cause and transmission
Glanders is caused by infection with the  Burkholderia mallei, usually by ingestion of contaminated feed or water. B. mallei is able to infect humans, so it is classed as a zoonotic agent.
Attempts have been made to develop vaccines for these infections, which would not only benefit military personnel, a group most likely to be targeted in an intentional release, but also individuals who may come in contact with glanders-infected animals or live in areas where melioidosis is endemic. References
External links
CDC list of articles on glanders
Current status of Glanders worldwide at OIE. WAHID Interface - OIE World Animal Health Information Database
Disease card Archived 2014-10-10 at the Wayback Machine
Animal health aspects of glanders
Center for Biosecurity Agent Fact Sheet
Burkholderia mallei genomes and related information at PATRIC, a Bioinformatics Resource Center funded by NIAID
Notes On Glander Disease in Horse