Burkholderia mallei and the glanders

Abstract

The glanders is an infectious and contagious disease, caused by Burkholderia mallei bacterium, an obligate intracellular pathogen. This disease, this disease, mainly affects the group of horses, but but can also extend to wild animals, small ruminants and even man, so it is a zoonosis. The bacterium does not need culture medium enriched to develop, has slow growth and is sensitive to heat. In Brazil, the disease is still endemic and due to its high degree of contamination, when there are suspected cases, it is necessary to take epidemiological control measures, which must be informed to the State Secretariats of Agriculture and / or Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply, and also to the Ministry of Health, being then mandatory notification. For the purposes of proving the disease, the Secretary of Defense for Agriculture and Livestock was defined as the most accurate method of diagnosis, the laboratory. The main form of contamination is the digestive tract. The most common signs include fever, cough and runny nose. It may present in acute or chronic form, in which it has three clinical manifestations: nasal, pulmonary and cutaneous. When diagnosed, due to the absence of vaccines, the animal should undergo euthanasia. The objective of this study was to review the available literature on glanders, highlighting the etiological agent of the disease, and discussing its importance in Veterinary Medicine.