Serodiagnosis of Burkholderia mallei infections in horses: state-of-the-art and perspectives.

The research article deals with advancements in diagnosing Burkholderia mallei infections in horses and the problems associated with existing diagnostic tests. The authors discuss potential improvements in these tests based on recent molecular research.

Background on Burkholderia mallei Infections

• The bacterium Burkholderia mallei is responsible for causing glanders or farcy in solipeds (a family of horses). This study deals with the disease’s serodiagnosis, which is identification based on antibodies or antigen detection in the blood.
• The research acknowledges that there has been a consistent rise in the number of reported outbreaks of this disease over the last ten years, and that it is a sickness that needs to be reported to the OIE (Office International des Epizooties, Paris, France), an international animal health organization.

Current Issues in Serodiagnosis

• The current testing methods for glanders have a significant degree of false-positives and -negatives, which hampers accurate diagnosis and disease management.
• Two common diagnostic methods mentioned are the complement fixation test (CFT) and the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). They both lack accuracy due to the use of unrefined preparations of whole cell bacteria as test antigens.

Future Perspectives and Recent Molecular Research

• The researchers propose that the future of Burkholderia mallei infection serodiagnosis may involve developing and evaluating tests that use well-identified single antigens instead of crude whole cells which will increase the test’s sensitivity and specificity.
• They suggest that the implications of this approach should be considered in view of recent molecular research on B. mallei itself and the closely related saprozoonotic bacterium, B. pseudomallei.
• The mention of B. pseudomallei suggests that they are exploring commonalities with other bacteria for developing more reliable serodiagnosis tests.