Glanders is a rare but serious bacterial infection that mainly affects people who have close contact with infected horses, donkeys, or mules. It can cause fever, chills, muscle aches, cough, chest pain, and painful skin sores, and the early symptoms of glanders can look like other infections at first. Glanders may start suddenly or develop more slowly, and without treatment it can be life-threatening. Not everyone will have the same experience. Treatment usually involves antibiotics for several weeks to months, often starting in the hospital, and early care improves the chance of survival.
How many people live with Glanders?
Worldwide, a single reliable count of how many people are living with glanders is not consistently reported, because human glanders is extremely rare and is usually described as isolated cases rather than a standing global total (World Health Organization, 2018). In the United States, naturally acquired human glanders has not been reported since 1945, so the number of people living with it is generally considered to be zero under normal circumstances (CDC, 2024).
Overview
GlandersSymptoms
Glanders often starts with fever, chills, muscle aches, headache, and tiredness. People with glanders may also develop cough, chest pain, shortness of breath, swollen lymph nodes, or painful skin sores.
Outlook and prognosis
Glanders is a serious bacterial infection that can worsen quickly without treatment. With early antibiotics and close hospital care, many people improve, but severe lung or bloodstream infection can be life-threatening. Follow-up matters because relapse can happen.
Causes and risk factors
Glanders is caused by infection with Burkholderia mallei, usually caught from infected horses, donkeys, or mules. Risk is highest for veterinarians, animal handlers, laboratory workers, and others exposed to body fluids or contaminated equipment. Person-to-person spread is very rare.
Genetic influences
Genetics are not a main cause of Glanders in people. It is an infectious disease, not usually something inherited through families. Genetic differences in the bacterium can matter for tracking outbreaks and sometimes antibiotic response.
Diagnosis
Glanders is diagnosed from symptoms and possible exposure history, then confirmed with blood tests and testing of samples from sores, sputum, or other body fluids. Doctors may also use imaging, especially if infection in the lungs is suspected.
Treatment and drugs
Glanders needs urgent treatment with antibiotics, often given through a vein at first in the hospital, then by mouth for several weeks. People with glanders may also need drainage of infected areas, breathing support, and close follow-up to make sure the infection clears.
Symptoms
Glanders can make people feel suddenly very unwell, often with fever, body aches, and symptoms that depend on where the infection takes hold. Early symptoms of glanders may resemble flu, a chest infection, or an infected skin wound, which can make it hard to spot at first. Symptoms vary from person to person and can change over time. The illness can become severe quickly, especially when it affects the lungs or spreads through the bloodstream.
Fever is common and may come with shaking chills or heavy sweating. Some people with glanders feel suddenly ill, as if they have a bad flu that does not ease.
Muscle aches, headache, and deep tiredness are common, especially early on. What once felt effortless can start to require more energy or focus.
When glanders affects the lungs, a cough can start and chest pain may make deep breaths uncomfortable. The cough may stay dry or bring up mucus, and some people also notice night sweats.
Shortness of breath can happen if the infection causes pneumonia or inflames the lungs. In glanders, breathing may become harder over a short time, especially with fever and chest pain.
How people usually first notice Glanders?
Glanders often first comes to attention after close contact with an infected animal, especially horses, when flu-like symptoms suddenly appear and do not fit a usual minor illness. Many people with glanders first notice fever, chills, muscle aches, headache, and a cough, and some also develop painful skin sores or lumps, swollen lymph nodes, chest pain, or trouble breathing if the lungs are involved. Because these early signs can look like other infections, what raises concern is the combination of feeling very unwell plus a possible animal exposure, which is why prompt medical care matters.
Types of Glanders
Glanders can show up in a few different clinical forms, and the types of Glanders mainly differ by where the infection is strongest and how quickly it becomes severe. Symptoms do not always look the same for everyone. Some people develop a sudden, serious illness with fever and breathing problems, while others have a slower course with skin sores or repeated abscesses.
Localized skin
This form often starts where the bacteria entered through a cut or scrape, causing painful nodules or ulcers and swollen nearby lymph nodes. Someone might notice a sore that does not heal well, along with fever and feeling run down.
Pulmonary
This type mainly affects the lungs and can cause cough, chest pain, shortness of breath, and fever. Early symptoms of Glanders in this form may look like severe pneumonia, and some people also cough up mucus or blood.
Septicemic
This is the most severe form and happens when the infection spreads through the bloodstream. It can cause high fever, chills, extreme weakness, fast worsening illness, and signs of shock, with sores or abscesses sometimes appearing in several organs.
Chronic
Chronic Glanders develops more slowly over weeks to months and may cause recurring fever, weight loss, muscle aches, and multiple abscesses in the skin, muscles, or internal organs. For many, this can mean periods of seeming improvement followed by new draining sores or swollen lumps.
Can I slow down the onset of symptoms?
No, there is no good evidence that lifestyle changes, diet, exercise, or supplements can meaningfully delay the start of symptoms in glanders. Because glanders is a rare bacterial infection, the clearest way to reduce risk is to avoid exposure to infected animals or contaminated materials and to use protective gear if your job puts you at risk; this may lower the chance of illness, but it cannot guarantee prevention. There is no vaccine, and if you think you were exposed, getting medical care quickly is the most helpful step.
What genetics can tell you about symptoms
For glanders, genetics usually does not tell doctors much about which symptoms you will have, how severe they will be, or when they will start, because this is an infection caused by the bacterium Burkholderia mallei rather than an inherited condition. Symptoms are more strongly shaped by how the bacteria entered the body, how much exposure occurred, and a person’s overall health and immune response. Researchers are still studying whether small genetic differences in the immune system might slightly affect how someone responds to infection, but there is no established genetic test that can reliably predict symptoms in people with glanders.
Causes and risk factors
For many, the main risk for glanders comes from daily work around horses, donkeys, or mules that carry the bacterium Burkholderia mallei. Knowing the risks can help you feel more in control. Infection usually happens when the germ enters through broken skin, the eyes or nose, or by breathing in droplets from sick animals, contaminated tools, or lab samples. Risk factors for glanders include close animal contact, poor hand and equipment hygiene, and jobs such as animal care, veterinary work, or laboratory work. Glanders is not known to be caused by inherited gene changes, but a weakened immune system, older age, or not using protective gear can raise the chance of severe illness.
What are the most common causes or risk factors?
Glanders is caused by infection with a germ called Burkholderia mallei, which usually spreads to people from infected horses, donkeys, or mules. The main risk factors are close contact with these animals, especially in places where glanders still occurs, touching infected blood, mucus, or pus, having broken skin, or breathing in contaminated droplets; lab work with the germ also raises risk. There are no known inherited or family-based risk factors.
Environmental and biological risk factors
Glanders is a rare infection that usually passes from infected horses, donkeys, or mules to people. For most people, the risk is very low unless work, animal care, or travel brings them into contact with a sick animal or its fluids. Some risks are carried inside the body, others come from the world around us. In glanders, the biggest ones involve exposure through the skin, lungs, or the moist lining of the eyes, nose, or mouth, which is how glanders spreads to humans in most cases.
Glanders is most often linked to close contact with infected horses, donkeys, or mules. People who live with, handle, or care for these animals are more likely to be exposed, especially if the animal is sick or not yet known to be infected.
The bacteria can be present in nasal discharge, drainage from sores, and infected tissues. Handling these materials can raise risk if they reach the eyes, nose, mouth, or broken skin.
Small cuts, scrapes, or puncture wounds make it easier for the bacteria to enter the body. Even a minor hand injury during grooming, treatment, or cleaning can create an opening.
Breathing in droplets or fine particles from infected animals can spread glanders. This risk is higher during close handling, certain procedures, or cleaning that stirs contaminated material into the air.
Genetic risk factors
When someone develops Glanders, it is not usually because of something passed down in the family. Glanders is not considered an inherited condition, and no specific gene changes have been confirmed as genetic causes. If you are wondering whether Glanders is hereditary, current evidence says no. Genetic risk factors for Glanders have not been clearly identified.
Inherited changes: Glanders is not known to result from an inherited gene change. No single gene, or group of genes, has been proven to directly cause this illness.
Family history: Having a relative who had Glanders does not by itself mean you have a genetic risk. Family patterns have not been shown to reflect a clear inherited tendency.
Genetic testing: There is no routine genetic test that can tell whether someone will develop Glanders. Medical testing for Glanders is aimed at finding the infection, not inherited risk.
Population patterns: No ancestry or ethnic group has a confirmed inherited predisposition to Glanders. Researchers have not identified a reliable genetic pattern across populations.
Immune gene links: Scientists have not established a common inherited immune-system problem that specifically raises the risk of Glanders. Rare genetic differences may affect how people respond to infections in general, but this has not been proven as a clear cause here.
Lifestyle risk factors
Lifestyle risk factors for glanders mainly involve behaviors that increase contact with infected animals or contaminated body fluids. The illness is uncommon, but risk rises with certain work practices, hygiene habits, and food-handling choices. In practice, how lifestyle affects glanders is mostly through repeated exposure rather than diet or exercise.
Frequent close handling of horses, donkeys, or mules without strong safety habits can raise the chance of exposure to infected secretions. This is especially relevant when cleaning stalls, treating wounds, or handling nasal discharge.
Skipping gloves, masks, eye protection, or protective clothing during animal care can make it easier for bacteria to enter through the nose, mouth, eyes, or broken skin. Consistent use of protective equipment lowers this risk during high-contact tasks.
Not washing hands well after touching animals, tack, bedding, or contaminated surfaces can increase the chance of transferring bacteria to the face or to skin breaks. Careful hand hygiene is one of the most important behavior-based ways to reduce exposure.
Working with cuts, scrapes, or uncovered skin while around potentially infected animals can allow bacteria to enter the body more easily. Prompt cleaning and covering of skin injuries can reduce this pathway of infection.
Risk prevention
Glanders is very rare in people, so prevention mostly means avoiding exposure rather than making everyday lifestyle changes. Because there is no vaccine for glanders, the main ways to lower risk are careful contact with animals, good hygiene, and strict safety steps in workplaces and laboratories. Different people need different prevention strategies—there’s no single formula.
Most human cases happen after close contact with infected horses, donkeys, or mules, especially if an animal is ill or has unexplained nasal discharge or skin sores. Avoid handling animals that may be infected, and seek veterinary advice promptly if glanders is a concern.
Gloves, protective clothing, and eye protection can help block infected body fluids from getting into cuts, the eyes, nose, or mouth. This matters most for people who work with horses or animal tissues, and for anyone cleaning stalls or equipment.
Wash hands well after animal contact and clean any bites, scratches, or skin breaks right away with soap and water. Covering cuts before working with animals lowers the chance that bacteria can enter the body.
People in veterinary settings, animal transport, slaughter facilities, and laboratories need strict infection-control steps when glanders is possible. Safe handling of samples, proper disinfection, and following biosafety rules are key because even early symptoms of glanders can look like other infections.
Can you prevent Glanders?
You cannot fully prevent glanders in every case, and there is no vaccine. The best way to lower risk is to avoid close contact with sick horses, donkeys, or mules, avoid their blood and other body fluids, and use protective gear if you work with animals or lab samples that could carry the germ. Quick testing, isolation, and control of infected animals also helps stop it from spreading.
Transmission
Glanders is an infectious disease that usually spreads from infected horses, donkeys, or mules to people, not from casual contact with other people. It can enter the body through broken skin, the eyes or nose, or by breathing in contaminated droplets or dust, so how glanders spreads is usually tied to close contact with a sick animal or, more rarely, laboratory exposure.
For most people, glanders is not considered highly contagious in day-to-day life because person-to-person spread appears to be extremely rare. In practical terms, the main risk is handling an infected animal, its fluids, or contaminated equipment rather than being near someone living with glanders.
When to test your genes
For glanders, genetic testing is not used for early detection or to tailor treatment. If you may have been exposed, testing should focus on medical evaluation, blood or tissue cultures, and other lab tests based on symptoms and exposure history.
Diagnosis
Glanders can be hard to diagnose because its early symptoms often look like other infections, especially if fever, cough, skin sores, or swollen glands appear one at a time. The diagnosis of glanders usually starts with a careful review of symptoms, recent animal contact, travel, and possible workplace exposure. It’s natural to worry when symptoms don’t have a clear explanation. Because this illness is rare in many places, doctors often need to combine exam findings with lab testing to be confident.
Doctors ask about contact with horses, donkeys, or mules, as well as work in labs or animal settings where exposure could happen. Travel history and the timing of symptoms can help raise suspicion for glanders.
A clinician looks for signs such as fever, lung symptoms, swollen lymph nodes, skin ulcers, or draining nodules. The pattern of sores and breathing problems can help guide which tests are needed next.
Samples from blood, sputum, pus, or tissue may be sent to the lab to try to grow the bacteria that causes glanders. This can help confirm the infection, although specialized handling is often needed because the organism is hazardous.
Molecular tests can look for the genetic material of the bacteria in clinical samples. These tests may help provide faster support for a diagnosis of glanders when the right laboratory is available.
How is Glanders diagnosed?
Doctors diagnose glanders by looking at your symptoms, asking about possible contact with infected horses, donkeys, or contaminated lab materials, and doing an exam. They usually confirm it with lab tests on blood, mucus, pus, or fluid from sores to look for the germ that causes the infection, and sometimes they try to grow that germ in the lab. If the lungs may be affected, a chest X-ray or CT scan can help show how severe it is.
Stages of Glanders
Glanders does not have defined progression stages. This infection is not usually described as moving through fixed steps over time; instead, it can appear in different forms, such as a skin infection, lung infection, or a severe whole-body illness, and symptoms can come on quickly or develop more slowly. Doctors usually start with a conversation about symptoms, recent contact with infected animals, and travel or work exposures, because early symptoms of glanders can look like other serious infections. Diagnosis is then supported with an exam and lab testing, including samples from blood, sputum, skin sores, or other body fluids, and people are monitored closely because the illness can worsen fast.
Outlook and prognosis
With prompt treatment, many people with glanders can recover, but the prognosis depends heavily on how quickly the infection is recognized and which organs are involved. Untreated disease has a very high mortality rate, especially in the septicemic and pulmonary forms, where death can occur rapidly. Even with antibiotics, severe cases may be life-threatening and can leave lasting complications such as chronic abscesses or lung damage. Localized skin infection generally has a better outlook than bloodstream or widespread infection. Relapses can occur, so prolonged therapy and close follow-up are important to improve outcomes.
Long-term effects
Glanders can have serious long-term effects, especially if diagnosis or treatment is delayed. Long-term effects vary widely, but many people living with glanders who survive severe infection may be left with lasting damage in the lungs, skin, or other organs. Chronic or relapsing infection can lead to repeated fevers, draining sores, or deep abscesses, and severe cases may be life-threatening. Early treatment improves the outlook, but early symptoms of glanders can be easy to mistake for other infections.
Some people with glanders develop a long-lasting form of infection that can smolder for months or even years. This may cause recurring fever, tiredness, weight loss, and periods when symptoms seem to improve before returning.
When glanders affects the lungs, it can leave behind lasting breathing problems after the infection clears. Scarring, ongoing cough, chest pain, or reduced exercise tolerance may remain, especially after severe pneumonia or multiple lung abscesses.
Glanders can cause painful skin sores, draining nodules, and deeper pockets of infection under the skin. Even after healing, some may be left with scars or areas of damaged tissue.
In severe cases, the infection can spread through the bloodstream and injure organs such as the liver, spleen, or kidneys. This can lead to long-term weakness or reduced organ function in people who survive a widespread infection.
How is it to live with Glanders?
Living with glanders can mean feeling profoundly unwell, often with fever, exhaustion, cough, chest pain, and sometimes painful skin sores or swollen lymph nodes, which can make even basic daily tasks hard to manage. Because it is a serious bacterial infection that can affect the lungs, skin, and bloodstream, many people with glanders need urgent medical care and may be too sick to work, exercise, or keep up with normal routines for a time. It can also affect people around you, not only because loved ones may need to help with care and hospital visits, but because public health teams may need to trace animal exposures and review close contacts, especially in workplaces that involve horses or other animals. The good news is that glanders is rare, and with prompt treatment and careful follow-up, the focus becomes recovery, protecting others, and safely returning to daily life.
Treatment and drugs
Glanders is treated with antibiotics, and because it can become severe quickly, many people need care in the hospital at first, especially if the lungs, blood, or other organs are affected. Treatment often starts with antibiotics given through a vein, followed by antibiotic tablets or liquid by mouth for several weeks to months, because this infection can be hard to clear completely. Doctors may also treat complications such as breathing problems, abscesses, or sepsis, and some people need fluids, oxygen, or drainage of infected pockets of fluid. Not every treatment works the same way for every person, so the exact plan depends on how serious the infection is, which parts of the body are involved, and how well someone responds in the first days of care. Because early symptoms of Glanders can look like other infections, fast medical treatment is important, and there is no routine vaccine to prevent it.
Can you cure Glanders?
Yes, glanders can often be cured with strong antibiotics, especially when it is found and treated early. Many people living with glanders need care in the hospital at first, followed by a longer course of medicine to fully clear the infection. Without treatment, it can become very serious and can be life-threatening.
Non-drug treatment
Glanders can make everyday life difficult fast, with fever, body aches, cough, skin sores, or trouble breathing that may worsen over days. Treatment mainly relies on antibiotics, but Alongside medicines, non-drug therapies can support breathing, comfort, nutrition, and recovery from complications. In severe illness, supportive care in the hospital is often needed, especially when early symptoms of glanders progress to pneumonia or widespread infection. The exact mix depends on which parts of the body are affected and how sick someone is.
Many people with glanders need close monitoring in the hospital because this infection can worsen quickly. Care teams watch breathing, blood pressure, temperature, and organ function so problems can be treated early.
Intravenous fluids can help prevent dehydration if fever, poor appetite, vomiting, or weakness make it hard to drink enough. Good nutrition also supports healing, especially during a longer hospital stay.
If glanders affects the lungs, oxygen may be needed to ease shortness of breath and keep oxygen levels safe. Some people living with glanders may need intensive care and breathing machine support if the infection becomes severe.
Skin sores or deeper pockets of infection may need careful cleaning, dressing changes, or drainage to remove infected material. This can reduce pain, lower pressure in the area, and help tissues heal.
Your genes may have an impact on how drugs work for you
For glanders, treatment is usually guided by the infection itself, how sick someone is, and which antibiotics are most likely to work, rather than by their genes. That said, inherited differences can sometimes change how the body handles medicines, which may affect side effects or how strongly a drug works, so one person may feel worse on a medicine while another does fine. In day-to-day care, genetic testing is not a routine part of choosing treatment for glanders.
Pharmacological treatments
Treatment for glanders usually relies on antibiotics started quickly and continued for a long time. Because glanders is rare and can become severe, many people need treatment in the hospital at first, especially if they have pneumonia, blood infection, or deep abscesses. Drug treatments are not about fixing everything at once, but about controlling the infection early and then clearing any bacteria that may still be hiding in the body. The exact plan is chosen by an infectious disease specialist and may be adjusted based on how serious the illness is and how well the medicines are tolerated.
Ceftazidime is one of the main intravenous antibiotics used early in glanders, often for severe lung or bloodstream infection. It is usually given in the hospital for at least 10 to 14 days, and sometimes longer if the infection is deep or slow to improve.
Meropenem or imipenem-cilastatin may be used instead of, or sometimes alongside, ceftazidime for very serious glanders. These are strong intravenous antibiotics that doctors often choose when rapid, broad treatment is needed.
Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole is commonly used after the first hospital phase as longer-term follow-up treatment to help prevent relapse. For many living with glanders, this part of treatment can last several months, which is why antibiotics for glanders need close follow-up.
Doxycycline may be used in some treatment plans, usually as part of a longer eradication phase or when other drugs are not suitable. Not everyone responds to the same medication in the same way, so side effects and response help guide whether it stays in the plan.
Genetic influences
When people ask whether glanders is hereditary, the answer is usually no. It’s natural to ask whether family history plays a role, but glanders is usually linked to exposure to the bacteria that causes it, most often through close contact with infected horses, donkeys, or mules, or rarely in a laboratory setting. At this point, there is no well-established inherited gene change known to cause glanders or make it run in families the way some genetic conditions do. Researchers are still studying whether small differences in the immune system might affect how strongly someone responds to the infection, but this is not something doctors use to predict who will get glanders. For most people, avoiding exposure and getting care quickly matter far more than genetic testing or family history.
Is Glanders genetic?
Genetics are not a main cause of Glanders in people. It is an infectious disease, not usually something inherited through families. Genetic differences in the bacterium can matter for tracking outbreaks and sometimes antibiotic response.
Having a genetic risk is not necessarily a diagnosis
Changes in genes are a normal part of being human and are widely found in the general population. Most of these changes do not directly affect health and are simply part of natural human diversity. For many genes, having a change linked to a condition suggests a possible connection rather than a certain diagnosis, especially when several genes and environmental factors are involved. In some situations, though, a single well-studied change in a particular gene can be enough on its own to confirm a diagnosis.
Pharmacogenetics—how genetics influence drug effects
For people living with Glanders, genetics usually does not play a major day-to-day role in choosing treatment the way it does for some cancer or heart medicines. In most cases, doctors choose antibiotics based on how severe the infection is, which parts of the body are involved, and how well the liver and kidneys can handle the drugs. Not every difference in response is genetic, but with Glanders, the genes of the bacteria often matter more than a person’s inherited genes because they can affect which antibiotics are more likely to work. There is no routine pharmacogenetic test that reliably tells doctors which Glanders treatment will be best for you. If side effects are unusually strong, or a medicine seems to clear too slowly or too quickly, doctors may still look at other factors that affect drug handling, but this is not a standard part of Glanders care. In other words, when people ask how genetics affect antibiotic treatment for Glanders, the answer is that treatment is guided mainly by the infection itself and the germ’s drug sensitivity, rather than by inherited genetic testing.
Interactions with other conditions
Glanders can be especially serious when it happens alongside other illnesses that already strain the body. People with diabetes, long-term kidney or liver disease, heavy alcohol use, or a weakened immune system may have a harder time fighting the infection, and the illness can progress faster. If someone already has a lung condition, glanders can add to breathing problems and may look at first like severe pneumonia or, in some cases, other long-lasting lung infections such as tuberculosis. The infection can also spread through the bloodstream and trigger sepsis, which is a dangerous whole-body reaction that becomes even more risky in people who are already medically fragile. Interactions can look very different from person to person, so if early symptoms of glanders appear in someone with other health problems, doctors usually watch them closely and treat quickly.
How genes can cause diseases
Humans have more than 20,000 genes, each carrying out one or a few specific functions in the body. One gene instructs the body to digest lactose from milk, another tells the body how to build strong bones and another prevents the body's cells from beginning to multiply uncontrollably and developing into cancer. As all of these genes combined are the building instructions for our body, a defect in one of these genes can have severe health consequences.
Through decades of genetic research, we know the genetic code of any healthy/functional human gene. We have also identified that in certain positions on a gene, some individuals may have a different genetic letter from the one you have. We call these hotspots "Genetic Variations" or "Variants" in short. In many cases, studies have been able to show that having the genetic letter "G" in the position makes you healthy, but having the letter "A" in the same position disrupts the gene function and causes a disease. Genopedia allows you to view these variants in genes and summarizes all that we know from scientific research, which genetic letters (Genotype) have good or bad consequences on your health or on your traits.
What other conditions can cause similar symptoms to Glanders?
Glanders can look a lot like other serious infections, especially severe pneumonia, tuberculosis, melioidosis, and anthrax. If skin sores are present, it may also be confused with common skin and soft tissue infections, while widespread illness with fever and body aches can resemble sepsis, which is a dangerous body-wide reaction to infection. Because these illnesses can overlap so much, doctors usually need lab testing to tell them apart.
History
For much of history, glanders was feared most by people who lived and worked closely with horses, mules, and donkeys. A stable worker might notice an animal developing a persistent nasal discharge, skin sores, and worsening weakness, then worry about their own health after close contact. Across cultures and time periods, glanders was recognized as a serious illness because it could spread among working animals and, more rarely, to people caring for them.
Descriptions that likely match glanders go back to the ancient world, including writings from Greek and Roman medicine. Over the centuries, doctors and veterinarians gradually linked similar patterns of illness in animals with cases in humans, especially among soldiers, farmers, transport workers, and others who depended on pack animals in daily life. Before modern lab testing, this was difficult. The disease could resemble other infections, and early symptoms of glanders in people, such as fever, cough, body aches, or painful skin lumps, were not always easy to sort out at first.
By the 1800s, medical and veterinary researchers had a much clearer picture of glanders as a contagious disease of equine animals that could also affect humans. This mattered not just medically but socially and economically, because outbreaks could disrupt farming, transport, and military operations. As laboratory science improved in the late 19th century, researchers identified the infectious cause, which helped confirm that the illness seen in animals and people was part of the same disease process.
In the 20th century, better animal testing, infection control, and removal of infected animals led to a sharp drop in cases in many countries, including the United States and much of Europe. Today, glanders is rare in these regions, but it has not disappeared worldwide. Knowing the condition’s history helps explain why public health and veterinary teams still watch for it carefully, especially in places where animal exposure remains part of everyday work.