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GLANDERS, EQUINE - RUSSIA (CHITA)
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Date: Tue 3 July 2007
Source: Chita's State Broadcasting Company [trans. Assoc. Mod.NP, edited]
<http://chita.rfn.ru/rnews.html?id=19689&cid=7>
Cases of animal infection which are dangerous to humans as well have
been revealed in the Chita region. In one of auxiliary farms in the
Olovjaninsky district, 11 horses have been tested positive to
glanders.
Until recently, glanders was not found in animals in the Chita
region. This spring [2007] has provided an unpleasant surprise.
Specialists of the Chita State veterinary service do not consider the
situation as alarming; all infected horses have been destroyed, and
the same policy is to be applied in relation to the in-contact
horses, totalling more than 100 head.
In the absence of a vaccine against glanders, stamping out is the
only applicable policy. Specialists of Rospotrebnadzor [Federal
Service for Monitoring Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare]
work cooperatively with the veterinaries in the Olovjaninsky district
to prevent human infection and to inform the population of the
hazard. Indeed, so far no human infections have been recorded.
According to experts, observed rules of personal hygiene and related
measures, such as the use of protective clothing will prevent
infection.
Rospotrebnadzor explained that the risk of human infection in the
Chita region will be maintained until the final eradication of the
infected focus, namely when all in-contact horses are destroyed.
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[Chita Region (Chitinskaya Oblast) is a territory of 412 500 sq/km
[159 267.14 sq/miles], namely 1000 sq/km [386.1 sq/miles] larger than
California. Chita is located in South Eastern Siberia on the border
with China and Mongolia, bordering the Buryat Republic on its west,
Sakha Republic on its north, and the Amur region on its eastern side.
The region consists of the Aginsk Buryat Autonomous Area and 31
administrative districts.
Glanders might have been introduced by migrating animals from
Mongolia, where the disease is present. - Mod.NP]
[Glanders is a contagious and fatal bacterial disease of horses,
donkeys, and mules, and is caused by infection with the bacterium
_Burkholderia mallei_. The disease causes nodules and ulcerations in
the upper respiratory tract and lungs. A skin form also occurs, known
as 'farcy.' Control of glanders requires testing of suspect clinical
cases, screening of apparently normal equids, and elimination of
positive reactors. It is transmitted to humans by direct contact with
sick animals or infected materials. All infected or potentially
infected material must be handled in a laboratory that meets the
requirements for Containment Group 3 pathogens. In the untreated
acute disease in man, there can be 95 percent mortality within 3
weeks. However, survival is possible if the infected person is
treated early and aggressively with multiple systemic antibiotic
therapies. For further details on the disease and its diagnosis, see
chapter 2.5.8. in OIE's Manual of Diagnostic Tests and Vaccines for
Terrestrial Animals, at:
<http://oie.int/eng/normes/mmanual/A_00086.htm>.
According to OIE's Handistatus epidemiological data-base (2004), the
disease is endemic in Mongolia. - Mod.AS]
*********************************
Date: Tue 3 July 2007
Source: Chita's State Broadcasting Company [trans. Assoc. Mod.NP, edited]
<http://chita.rfn.ru/rnews.html?id=19689&cid=7>
Cases of animal infection which are dangerous to humans as well have
been revealed in the Chita region. In one of auxiliary farms in the
Olovjaninsky district, 11 horses have been tested positive to
glanders.
Until recently, glanders was not found in animals in the Chita
region. This spring [2007] has provided an unpleasant surprise.
Specialists of the Chita State veterinary service do not consider the
situation as alarming; all infected horses have been destroyed, and
the same policy is to be applied in relation to the in-contact
horses, totalling more than 100 head.
In the absence of a vaccine against glanders, stamping out is the
only applicable policy. Specialists of Rospotrebnadzor [Federal
Service for Monitoring Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare]
work cooperatively with the veterinaries in the Olovjaninsky district
to prevent human infection and to inform the population of the
hazard. Indeed, so far no human infections have been recorded.
According to experts, observed rules of personal hygiene and related
measures, such as the use of protective clothing will prevent
infection.
Rospotrebnadzor explained that the risk of human infection in the
Chita region will be maintained until the final eradication of the
infected focus, namely when all in-contact horses are destroyed.
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[Chita Region (Chitinskaya Oblast) is a territory of 412 500 sq/km
[159 267.14 sq/miles], namely 1000 sq/km [386.1 sq/miles] larger than
California. Chita is located in South Eastern Siberia on the border
with China and Mongolia, bordering the Buryat Republic on its west,
Sakha Republic on its north, and the Amur region on its eastern side.
The region consists of the Aginsk Buryat Autonomous Area and 31
administrative districts.
Glanders might have been introduced by migrating animals from
Mongolia, where the disease is present. - Mod.NP]
[Glanders is a contagious and fatal bacterial disease of horses,
donkeys, and mules, and is caused by infection with the bacterium
_Burkholderia mallei_. The disease causes nodules and ulcerations in
the upper respiratory tract and lungs. A skin form also occurs, known
as 'farcy.' Control of glanders requires testing of suspect clinical
cases, screening of apparently normal equids, and elimination of
positive reactors. It is transmitted to humans by direct contact with
sick animals or infected materials. All infected or potentially
infected material must be handled in a laboratory that meets the
requirements for Containment Group 3 pathogens. In the untreated
acute disease in man, there can be 95 percent mortality within 3
weeks. However, survival is possible if the infected person is
treated early and aggressively with multiple systemic antibiotic
therapies. For further details on the disease and its diagnosis, see
chapter 2.5.8. in OIE's Manual of Diagnostic Tests and Vaccines for
Terrestrial Animals, at:
<http://oie.int/eng/normes/mmanual/A_00086.htm>.
According to OIE's Handistatus epidemiological data-base (2004), the
disease is endemic in Mongolia. - Mod.AS]
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