Transmission occurs by direct contact with infected animals  body fluid and tissues and entry is through skin abrasions, nasal and oral mucosal surfaces, or inhalation. Diagnosis
The mallein test is a sensitive and specific clinical test for glanders. Mallein (ATCvet code: QI05AR01 (WHO)), a protein fraction of the glanders organism (B. mallei), is injected intradermopalpebrally or given by eye drop. In infected animals, the eyelid swells markedly in 1 to 2 days. Historical cases and potential use in war
Glanders has been known since antiquity, with a description by Hippocrates around 425 BCE. However, historian Lise Wilkinson has described the incredible difficulty of studying outbreaks of glanders in history.From the Middle Ages to the 1900s, glanders was a significant threat to armies. Before the Battle of Blenheim in 1704, glanders may have afflicted and greatly diminished the horses of Marshal Tallards cavalry, helping the Duke of Marlborough win the battle.Glanders was a significant problem for civilian use of horses, as well. In the 18th-century veterinary hospital at the École Nationale Vétérinaire dAlfort, glanders was the most common disease among their equine patients and the one most likely to cause death.Due to the high mortality rate in humans and the small number of organisms required to establish infection, B. mallei is regarded as a potential biological warfare or bioterrorism agent, as is the closely related organism, B. pseudomallei, the causative agent of melioidosis.
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