Glanders still has no vaccine; culling all infected animals remains the only control method
This bacterium, which obligately parasitizes equines, kills over 90% of those infected, is inherently antibiotic-resistant, and after more than a century of human research, the only effective approach remains: discover and cull.
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A doctor took three weeks to admit he had contracted glanders
In 1911, a Punjab Veterinary College researcher was already familiar with the appearance of typical glanders cultures—he used this evidence every year to order the culling of infected horses. But when the same bacterial colony appeared in a culture from his own wound, he convinced himself ‘it must be a mistake,’ and even destroyed the already-prepared sample, until the disease progressed to undeniable severity. He subsequently underwent 45 operations (27 under general anesthesia), with illness lasting from March 1911 until June 1913 before recovery—and he relapsed once after that.
The lethal glanders bacterium carries roughly 1200 fewer genes than its relative
Burkholderia mallei, the pathogen of glanders, is an obligate parasite that can barely survive independently outside its host—a stark contrast to the related Burkholderia pseudomallei (which causes melioidosis and freely survives and reproduces in soil), whose genome is roughly 1200 genes larger than mallei. Though mallei has ‘degenerated’ into an obligate parasite, that same adaptation makes it vulnerable to deliberate eradication across entire regions, as happened in the twentieth century.
— Erin Allman-UpdykeGlanders is never treated; infected animals are only culled
When animals contract glanders, the World Organisation for Animal Health recommends direct culling rather than antibiotic treatment—the bacterium is inherently resistant to most antibiotics. More extreme: any individual exposed to an infected animal faces continuous monitoring, and at the first symptom has the same fate as the animal. The approach is crude, but it is the only method that actually works; the cost is that no one can now say what the true natural mortality rate is in infected animals, because almost every case ends by human termination before it could run its natural course.
— Erin Allman-UpdykeTreated humans still die in forty percent to fifty percent of cases
After human infection with glanders, the untreated mortality rate exceeds 90%; the pneumonic form typically proves fatal within 10 to 30 days. Even with treatment, mortality remains as high as 40%-50%. Because the disease is so rare, the Infectious Diseases Society of America has no official treatment guideline; existing protocols amount to expert consensus only: at least 10 to 14 days of intravenous broad-spectrum antibiotics, followed by six months to a year of oral antibiotics, without necessarily requiring drainage of internal abscesses—entirely unlike standard care for most bacterial infections.
— Erin Allman-UpdykeA student died dissecting a glanders-infected horse, yet the professor blamed cadaverous poison
Into the nineteenth century, whether glanders was contagious remained a centuries-old dispute in veterinary medicine. In 1817, a veterinary student accidentally cut his hand while dissecting a glanders-infected horse and died shortly after. The professor investigating took samples from the student's body and inoculated them into two donkeys, both of which became infected with glanders—yet he concluded that glanders was not contagious and the student had died of ‘cadaverous poisoning’ (which was actually glanders itself). This dispute only ended in the mid-nineteenth century through a series of experimental infections.
— Erin WelshA single Union cavalry depot lost seventeen thousand horses to glanders in one year
During the Civil War, the Union lost over 284,000 horses and mules in just the first two years. To centralize supply, both sides built massive depots holding tens of thousands of horses—the Giesboro depot in Washington, D.C. could hold 30,000 horses at peak capacity. Horses greet each other nose-to-nose and share feeding troughs, providing ideal conditions for glanders transmission. From January 1864 to April 1865, that single depot lost 17,000 horses to disease alone—on one day, over 180 died. The Confederacy fared worse: one depot received 7,000 horses and sent only 1,000 to the battlefield.
— Erin WelshA Tier 1 bioterror agent, glanders infected a microbiologist in a lab this century
During World War II, Japanese forces deployed glanders in biological attacks against horses, civilians, and prisoners of war; there are also reports that the Soviet Union deliberately infected mujahideen horses during the Afghan War in the early 1980s. In 2000, the United States formally classified glanders as a Tier 1 select agent, placing it alongside smallpox, plague, anthrax, and Ebola. Ironically, that same year, a 33-year-old microbiologist at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases accidentally contracted glanders while researching it—he frequently worked without gloves, marking the first recorded human case in English medical literature since 1949; he survived after six months of treatment.
Vaccine research remains at animal testing; glanders persists in multiple regions
Glanders has been eradicated from vast regions including the EU, Australia, and the United States, but through culling and isolation alone, not vaccination—animal vaccine research remains at early experimental stages, without even Phase 1 human trials. Meanwhile, glanders continues to cause sporadic cases and outbreaks in South Asia, Southwest Asia, and North Africa: a 2010 Tehran Zoo outbreak killed 4 lions and 1 tiger; Nepal's first confirmed case came in 2022; Brazil reported 120 cases across 43 municipalities between 2020 and 2024.
— Erin WelshIn their own words · checked verbatim
I had each year destroyed many horses on such evidence, and yet when the facts showed that I myself had the disease, I could not bring myself to believe it. I gradually persuaded myself there must be some mistake, and as time went on, became nearly convinced of it.
It's very often fatal. Case fatality rates in humans are over 90%.
Erin Allman-Updyke24:00
it's IV antibiotics for a prolonged course, like at least 10, if not 14 days of really broad spectrum antibiotics. followed by a year, like six months to a year of oral antibiotics to try and clear this infection.
Erin Allman-Updyke26:00
The ass suffers chiefly from one particular disease, which they call mellus. It arrives first in the head and a clammy humor runs down the nostrils thick and red. If it stays in the head, the animal may recover. But if it descends into the lungs, the animal will die
The professor concluded that Glanders was not contagious and that what caused the student's death was actually cadaveric poison.
Erin Welsh34:21
the atmosphere is impregnated with a malarial odor arising from the decomposition of animal matter just below in an open field where a large number of dead horses are deposited upon the surface and allowed to remain and decompose.
Erin Welsh38:30
Glanders is still very much considered to have a strong potential for weaponization. It's deadly. You know, we've talked about this. It's there are limited treatments, and there's antibiotic resistance.
Erin Allman-Updyke48:43
Figures
| Genes by which B. mallei is smaller than B. pseudomallei | approximately 1200 | 9:40 |
| Maximum survival time of glanders bacterium in soil | 6 weeks | 10:41 |
| Human mortality rate without treatment | exceeds 90% | 24:00 |
| Human mortality rate with treatment | 40%-50% | 24:00 |
| Year the United States classified glanders as a Tier 1 select agent | 2000 | 49:43 |
| Brazil glanders cases and distribution, 2020–2024 | 120 cases across 43 municipalities | 52:51 |
Glossary
- Burkholderia mallei
- The causative bacterium of glanders, an obligate intracellular parasite that can barely survive outside its mammalian host.
- Burkholderia pseudomallei
- A closely related species that causes melioidosis and can freely reproduce in soil and water; approximately 1200 genes larger than B. mallei.
- Farcy
- The cutaneous form of glanders, characterized by skin ulcers and nodular lesions.
- Tier 1 select agent
- The highest regulatory classification in the U.S. for pathogens with potential for weaponization; glanders shares this category with smallpox, plague, anthrax, and Ebola.
- Koch's postulates
- The classical criteria for establishing whether a given microorganism is the causative agent of a specific disease.
How to listen
Readers interested in rare infectious diseases, veterinary history, or bioterrorism topics; or public health professionals wanting to understand zoonotic disease control logic.
The cocktail-hour banter segment from 6:24 to 8:37 can be skipped—it has no bearing on glanders itself.