Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Histopathological and diagnostic aspects of glanders based on a case series from Brazil.
- Journal:
- Journal of equine veterinary science
- Year:
- 2025
- Authors:
- Nassar, A F C et al.
- Affiliation:
- Biological Institute
- Species:
- horse
Plain-English summary
Glanders is a serious disease that affects horses and is caused by a bacterium called Burkholderia mallei. In this study from Brazil, researchers looked at 16 adult horses and one fetus that were found to have glanders during outbreaks. They discovered that while some horses showed signs of illness, like respiratory issues, others did not show any symptoms at all. The researchers used various tests, including examining tissue samples and a method called PCR to detect the bacteria, and found that all the animals tested positive for the bacteria in at least one sample. This study emphasizes the need for using multiple testing methods to accurately identify and manage glanders, especially since some horses can carry the disease without showing any signs.
Abstract
Glanders is a zoonotic disease of equids caused by the bacterium Burkholderia mallei, responsible for considerable economic loss. This study aimed to describe the clinical manifestations, pathological findings, and also bacteriological and molecular methods for agent detection in naturally infected animals (16 adult horses and one fetus) detected by serological survey from three glanders outbreaks. Of the 16 horses, 6 (37.5%) did not show clinical signs. After necropsy,samples of organs, lymph nodes, lesions and secretions were collectedfor histopathology, bacterial isolation, and PCR. The clinical and gross alterations mainly comprised nasal and respiratory forms in the three outbreaks, and less of the cutaneous form. All tested animals were positive by PCR (100%, n=17) on at least one sample. Of 121 samples analyzed 8.2% (10/121) isolated B. mallei and 41.3% (50/121) were polymerase chain reaction (PCR) positive. This work highlights the importance of combining diagnostic techniques, such as histopathology microbiological culture and PCR,to confirm cases and characterize the morbidity of glanders as well as considering seropositive animals without glanders clinical signs as potential carrier animals affecting disease control programmes.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39657867/