Emergence and re-emergence of glanders in India: a description of outbreaks from 2006 to 2011.

This research focuses on the outbreaks of glanders, a lethal infectious bacterial disease affecting horses, which has resurfaced in India between 2006 and 2011.

Context and Overview of Glanders

• Glanders is a contagious and deadly disease in equines such as horses, caused by the bacterium Burkholderia mallei. The bacterium also poses a zoonotic risk, meaning it can be transmitted from animals to humans, causing serious illness.
• While many countries have eradicated glanders through testing, infected animal elimination, and import restrictions, it still exists in parts of Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Central and South America.

Glanders in India: History and Recent Outbreaks

• India experienced several major outbreaks of glanders from 1976 to 1982, and then occasional cases in 1988, 1990, and 1998. After a roughly eight-year period with no reports of the disease, outbreaks occurred in eight different states from 2006 to 2007.
• The study mentions that the disease re-emerged in Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh states, while new outbreaks occurred in the state of Chhattisgarh from 2009 to 2010.

Incidence and Response to Outbreaks

• A total of 164 equine cases were identified across the country, with the majority in Uttar Pradesh (n=77), followed by Maharashtra (n=23), Uttarakhand (n=21), and Andhra Pradesh (n=16).
• The Indian authorities euthanised all the infected animals as per the Prevention and Control of Infectious and Contagious Disease in Animals Act, 2009, and implemented bio-security measures to prevent the disease from spreading further.

Significance of the Study

• This study underscores the challenge posed by glanders in India, a country where the disease had been believed to have been eliminated. The re-emergence of glanders raises questions about current disease control strategies and underlines the need for enhanced surveillance and efficient biosecurity measures.