The National Veterinary Service Laboratories (NVSL) in the USA has concluded an evaluation of imported animals with the ID Screen® Glanders Double Antigen Multispecies kit, and according to the excellent results obtained, it has taken this kit as the one that will be used as the primary serological test, and positive animals will be tested with Western Blot.
This kit is already being used by the MIDA laboratory in Panama.
For additional information do not hesitate to contact us.
Glanders is a highly contagious disease that occurs primarily in horses, mules and donkey and caused by the Gram-negative bacterium Burkholderia mallei. It can be also contracted by other animals, such as dogs, cats, goats and humans.
Glanders continues to be reported from Brazil, China, India, Iran, Iraq, Mongolia, Pakistan, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates and is thought to be endemic in various areas of the Middle East, Asia, Africa and South America.
As indicated in the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code, any occurrence of Glanders must be notified to the OIE.
The disease causes nodules and ulcerations in the respiratory tract and lungs in animals. Death occurs within a few days. Both acute and chronic forms of the disease have been described. Acute forms occur most frequently in donkeys and mules, with high fever and respiratory signs. In horses, Glanders generally takes a more chronic course and they may survive for several years.
No vaccines are currently available for this disease.
The Complement Fixation Test (CFT) is the prescribed serodiagnosis method for Glanders for international trade. However, itssensitivity and specificity has been questioned. OIE proposed in 2016 ELISA technique for serological diagnosis of Glanders in equids for the purpose of certifying freedom from infection in individual animals for trade or movement(1).
The ID Screen® Glanders Double Antigen Multi-species ELISA is designed to detect antibodies in serum or plasma from horses, donkeys, mules or other susceptible species. The test is easy-to-use, with results in just 90 minutes.
The ID Screen® Glanders Double Antigen Multi-species ELISA will detect antibodies to both Burkholderia mallei and Burkholderia pseudomallei, causative agents of glanders and melioidosis, respectively. Please note that only direct diagnosis techniques allow differentiation of these pathogens.