| Description |
Glanders is a serious zoonotic bacterial disease that primarily affects horses, mules and donkeys. In equidae the disease causes nodules and ulcerations in the upper respiratory tract and lungs. A skin form also occurs, known as `farcy’. Although cases in humans are uncommon, they can be very painful and potentially life threatening. Without antibiotic treatment, the case fatality rate in humans may be as high as 95%. Glanders results from infection by Burkholderia mallei, a Gram negative rod in the family Burkholderiaceae. This organism was formerly known as Pseudomonas mallei. |