Simultaneous occurrence of strangle and glanders diseases in a mule in Ilam province, Iran

Glanders is a contagious infection of odd-toe ungulates that is occurs in three forms of skin, nasal and pulmonary. It is caused by bacterium Burkholderia mallei. Horses generally affected to chronic form, whereas often takes as acute and pernicious in donkey and mule. In June 2015, a 5- year- old male mule was referred to veterinary services with complains of inappetence, skin lesion and nasal purulent discharges, in Ilam province. Subcutaneous nodules and cutaneous ulcers, bilateral nasal mucosal ulcers with discharge and snoring were noted during examination. Initially, for suspecting to glanders disease, mallein test was done but its result was negative. Then, nasal and skinny unopened nodule swabs with serum sample were evaluated with microbiology, Complement Fixation Test and Elisa for differentiating of glanders from strangle and ulcerative lymphangitis diseases. Bacterium Burkholderia mallei was not isolated from cultured swabs, but Streptococcus equi isolated. The results of serum Complement Fixation Test and Elisa were also positive for glanders. In conclusion rely on negative mallein test, that is common in clinical cases and negative culture of Burkholderia mallei due to time consuming submit process of bacteriological sample to few individual glanders laboratories may be misleading for glanders diagnosis, but in present case, simultaneous diagnosis of strangle and glanders diseases was made base on combination of clinical signs, positive serum complement fixation test and indirect Elisa for glanders associated with separating of Streptococcus equi bacterium.