On April 17, a horse with a Glanders infection will be put to death

In Bengaluru, there were reports of two horses suffering with Glanders disease. Two horses—one will be put down on Wednesday, and the other passed away on Tuesday. The state administration acknowledged the epidemic and said that it is quickly raising awareness in order to contain the illness.

“There is an outbreak of Glanders in horses belonging to Khalid Shariff, on Modi Road, DJ Halli, Bengaluru North taluk,” the animal husbandry and fisheries department reports. It serves as the outbreak’s epicenter. A 5-kilometer radius around the epicentre is designated as the “infected zone,” and a 5-to 25-kilometer radius is designated as the “surveillance zone,” according to Section 6 of the Prevention and Control of Infectious and Contagious Diseases Animals Act-2009. Horses, donkeys, and mules are not allowed to go freely inside or outside the designated area.

Manjunath Palegar, the department head, said TNIE on Tuesday that this is Bengaluru’s first case of the illness. A case was recorded from Mysuru three years ago, and from Bidar the year before that.

Horse blood samples were drawn for examination as part of a regular practice. Two contaminated horses were discovered during examination. Given that the sickness has no known treatment, it was decided to put the second horse to death on Wednesday after the death of the first one on Tuesday.

“All horses that have the disease are culled.” It was also carried out in two more districts. Palegar said, “The owner is given compensation of Rs 25,000 for a horse and Rs 16,000 for donkeys, ponies, or mules, per orders from the Central government.”

deadly and contagious illness

Burkholderia mallei is the bacteria that causes glanders, a deadly and highly infectious illness that affects horses, donkeys, and mules. It results in lung and respiratory tract nodules and ulcers. There is also a skin variant known as farcy. The illness is managed by routine screening.

The animal handlers will be tested since the zoonotic illness may spread to people. We will test every handler even though the ministry has mandated that testing only be done on those who exhibit symptoms since it may quickly damage organs and result in death. Every one of Bengaluru’s 1,200 horses will undergo inspections. As a precaution, we will also request racehorse test reports,” the official stated.