ABSTRACT
Glanders is one of two forms of clinical disease caused by Burkholderia mallei in a host animal. It is a zoonotic disease primarily of solipeds: horses, donkeys, and mules [1]. However, nearly all mammals are susceptible to the B. mallei, which is a Gram-negative aerobic bacillus and is likely an obligate mammalian pathogen [2-4]. Glanders is endemic in the Far and Middle East, northern Africa, eastern Mediterranean, and southeastern Europe [5,6]. Although historically the incidence of glanders in human populations has been low, the possibility of its emerging as a human pathogen cannot be discounted. The need for preemptive study of this disease is underscored by past failures in protective vaccine development, resistance of the organism to antibiotic therapy, and by the protean manifestations of the disease within the host.
