Glanders disease in horses: causes, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Infectious diseases, unfortunately, often occur in such beautiful animals as horses. Many of them do not disappear on their own and are not even treated, so literally every specialist who breeds horses should be able to correctly diagnose glanders. In this article, we will talk about glanders disease and describe how to identify, detect and prevent it.

What is this disease

Sap is an infectious disease that is acute, because pustules, ulcerative formations, and abscesses in internal organs appear on the skin and mucous membranes.

Historical background

In modern Russia, cases of glanders are not recorded, although at the beginning of the First World War, the proportion of infected animals was up to 20%. The first mention of pathology was recorded in the 4th century, although at that time there was confusion with horse diseases.

Infectious nature of glanders disease succeededto be determined only at the end of the 19th century - Leffler isolated a pathogenic microorganism from the contents of glandular formations in 1882. After that, 9 years later, Russian veterinarians found mallein - a drug for diagnostics. Currently, according to the State Veterinary Inspection, the disease occurs mainly in Asian countries.

Diagnostic Methods

The only correct and effective way to detect glanders disease is an allergic method. Today, there are three samples with mallein:

1. Ocular, that is, 4-5 drops are applied to the conjunctiva. It is desirable to record the reaction every subsequent three hours for one day. Veterinarians advise to repeat the test in a week. A positive reaction is expressed in the form of hyperemia and discharge from the eye.
2. Subcutaneous test, that is, an injection of 1 ml of the drug into the neck or breast area. The reaction should be recorded every two hours 8 hours after the injection. Do not inject into animals with fever.
3. Skin test, that is, an intradermal injection of the drug is carried out, similarly to the previous option. Horses that respond positively show depression, the injection site swells, the temperature rises, and a sharp pain is felt.

Serological diagnostics for glanders shows low efficiency - only in 20% of infected animals the diagnosis is confirmed by RSK or RA. Today, for the export and import of animals, plasma serum tests are used and, together withallergic test.

Of course, scientists are trying to develop new diagnostic methods, for example, PCR or polymerase chain reaction, which allows you to detect the pathogen of glanders at an early stage of development and with a latent course.

The causative agent of infection

The gram-negative bacterium Burkholderia mallei of the Burkholderiaceae family is considered to be the source of the disease. In the environment, this bacterium will not be able to survive, as it grows only on conventional nutrient platforms. In soil and water, it can live up to three months, and in the feces of sick horses - from two weeks to 20 days. The pathogenic microorganism quickly dies under the influence of high temperatures and ultraviolet rays. Also, the stick is sensitive to disinfectants. Veterinary supervision most often fixes cases of infection of horses in the countries of Africa, South and Central America, Asia.

Infection occurs when a pathogenic microorganism enters damaged skin, mucous membranes of the digestive tract, eyes, and respiratory organs.

Symptoms and course of the disease

Sap in horses at the initial stage develops without obvious signs, affecting most often the internal organs. Visible symptoms appear after one month from the moment of infection, so the presence of an "infection" in the body is determined by the presence of an allergic reaction to mallein. Such a reaction appears when infected after 14-20 days.

Forms of infectious disease

Depending on the location of the infectiondistinguish between the following forms:

• pulmonary;
• nasal;
• dermal.

Please note that the clinical picture of the pathology directly depends on the form of its course. The incubation period for the manifestation of the disease is 1-5 days. In sick horses, the temperature begins to rise sharply to + 41-42 degrees. Against this background, there are headaches and joint pains, fever, muscle trembling. In animals, the pulse is weakened to 60-80 beats per minute, while breathing becomes intermittent and frequent.

It can be observed that during the period of the disease the animal becomes lethargic, sleepy, and even loses its appetite. Despite the fact that the lungs are almost always affected by glanders, the process itself develops slowly, the symptoms are almost not noticeable. Intense vesicular breathing, coughing, and moist rales are much less common. This symptomatology is inherent in the nasal and skin forms of the pathology.

Mucosal manifestation

When glanders are sick, red spots appear on the nasal mucosa of the animal, and after 2-3 days, yellow nodules are noticeable in their place. After some time, they open up, resulting in small weeping ulcers of a round or oval shape.

Respiratory symptoms

Increasing, small wounds can connect, which causes extensive ulcerative surfaces. If the lesion grows, the nasal septum and, accordingly, the turbinates decompose. At the same time from the nostrils plentifullypus drains and breath becomes wheezy.

If the disease is prolonged, it becomes chronic. At the same time, the wounds actively heal, and scars in the form of stars are “born” in their place. In addition, with the pathology of the nasal region with glanders, there is a high probability that the submandibular lymph nodes are drawn into this process. They increase in size, become hot and very sore. After that, the lymph nodes thicken and become less mobile.

Skin manifestations

According to the indications of the State Veterinary Supervision, in case of a skin type of disease, lesions are most often localized in the neck, head, and extremities. Initially, edematous swelling appears on the skin, which is accompanied by severe pain. Pathology disappears after 1-2 days, and dense formations appear in its place, which after a while turn into wounds. At the same time, lymph nodes can also be compacted, clear thickenings appear along their contour, which soften and open on their own.

Forms of the course of pathology

The duration of the acute form is from 8 to 30 days, after which death occurs, or it flows into the chronic form. In most cases, the disease in an acute form develops without an obvious clinical picture. The main signs of the disease are: dry cough, emphysema, weight loss.

On the mucous membranes of the nasopharynx, scars in the form of a star can be seen, which appeared on the site of healed ulcers. At the same time, they can significantly increase in size and compact.submandibular nodes. In some cases, with the skin form of glanders, strong thickenings form on the pelvic limbs, which are also called "elephantiasis".

If we talk about the latent form of glanders, then you can see that basically its course occurs in permanently disadvantaged areas. It can pass without visible signs (mainly internal organs are affected) for many years.

Patological changes

Only in rare cases (for example, to make a correct diagnosis) is an autopsy allowed. At the same time, conditions must be strictly observed that prevent the further spread of infection. At autopsy, such changes may be detected due to illness:

• Nodules form on the mucous membrane of the larynx and trachea.
• Lung tissue may also have nodular glanders or glandular pneumonia.
• Lymph nodes are enlarged, horses may show necrotic lesions when cut.
• When glanders spread, such neoplasms can be located in the liver, spleen and other important organs.

Sapa treatment

All sick animals must be placed in the infectious disease department. In the course of drug therapy, sulfonamide preparations are prescribed - Sulfathiazole, antibiotics - Penicillin and Streptomycin, the price of which is affordable. In addition to active drug therapy, vitamins and drugs are administered to horses to improve blood composition. In case of observationshock state is allowed to use anti-shock measures.

According to the instructions for use, Norsulfazol, like Streptocid, also belongs to the group of sulfonamides, which are quite easily absorbed, but can accumulate in organs and systems. The drugs are considered universal and are used to treat various infectious diseases. "Streptomycin", the price of which is 5-10 rubles for one bottle of powder to create a solution for intramuscular injection, like other antibiotics, can adversely affect the peripheral nervous and urinary systems.

Prevention and elimination

In order to prevent the manifestation of the disease, only he althy animals are allowed to be imported into Russia. At the same time, all sanitary and veterinary rules must be observed. Imported horses must be sent for diagnostics of glanders, and in case of detection - to quarantine.

In addition, all adults are examined and tested with serum in spring and autumn. If the disease is not detected, then the animals are used without any restrictions. If the laboratory test result is positive, these horses are considered suspicious. In this situation, they are separated into a separate room (mainly the one in which they were kept) and tested with a mallein test. If the result of the study is negative, the horses are considered he althy. If a disease is detected, animals are subject to extermination and future post-mortem examination.

If the autopsy reveals certain changes, the diagnosis of glanders is considered established. Such horses are cremated, and all the premises where they were, and the surrounding area, tools, carts, shoes and clothes of workers must be disinfected. Also, the entire herd, where the sick horse was found, is isolated and inspected.

Sapa prevention includes the processing of surrounding objects and furnishings:

• Liquid wastewater is covered with bleach and mixed well. A proportion of 200 grams per cubic meter is used. dm.
• Premises should be cleaned regularly. Initially, the area is sprayed with a disinfectant solution, then mechanical cleaning and subsequent disinfection are carried out.

After such actions are carried out:

• Wall treatment with lime mortar 20%.
• Litter, manure and leftover food must be burned after disinfection.
• The earth is being disinfected. To do this, use a hot solution of caustic soda, formalin or bleach.
• You should literally boil your work clothes and towels daily with a solution of soda for 20-25 minutes.
• It is also important to treat aprons and rubber gloves by soaking them for an hour in a chloramine solution.
• Every 15 minutes, boots and harness are wiped with a solution of chloramine.
• It is important to regularly treat exposed areas of the body with a solution of chloramine and alcohol.
• Vehicles are treated with chloramine in the proportion of 300 cc. cm per sq. m.

In the absence of characteristic changes, bacteriological and histological tests are carried out. Since glanders is an incurable disease, it is important not only to systematically examine horses, but also to protect them as much as possible from potentially dangerous sources. Only in this way is it really possible to keep the herd in full force.