Glanders is a severe disease of horses and mules. It also occurs in dogs, cats, goats, and sheep, and occasionally in people. Cattle and hogs seem to be immune to it. Glanders is caused by the bacillus Pseudomonas mallei. This bacillus may lodge in almost any organ of the body. It spreads through nasal discharges and cuts or scrapes in the skin.
Glanders causes fever, weight loss, a nasal discharge containing pus, and ulcers in the skin and nose. The disease is especially dangerous when many animals are together, such as in stables. Few infected animals recover from glanders. Physicians usually prescribe antibiotics to treat the disease in people. In its early stages, glanders in animals is also called farcy.
Infected animals usually can be detected by the mallein test. In this test, products of the bacillus that causes glanders are injected into the eye. A pus-containing discharge from the eye indicates the presence of glanders.
