Prevalence of glanders of horses in the world and the risk of introducing the disease to Kazakhstan

Glanders is a highly contagious zooanthroponic infectious disease of horses, donkeys, mules and other equids of the Equidae familycaused by the bacterium of the type of Burkholderia mallei; the pathogen causes nodules and ulcerations in the upper respiratory tract and lungs. There is also a skin cutaneous form known as “Farcy”. The results of the information analysis and the data of the OIE (World Organization for Animal Health) on the prevalence of glanders in the world for 2011-2021 indicate the circulation of the pathogen in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and South America. In general, the epizootic situation in Kazakhstan regarding glanders of horses continues to be favorable. However, there is a threat of its introduction into the republic, taking into account the tendency towards the increase in the number of horses, participation of horses in international competitions and the geographical role of the cross-border region. In Kazakhstan, according to the data as of July 1, 2022, compared with the same date last year (2021 - 3 million 532 thousand heads), the number of horses as a whole increased by 10%, amounting to 3 million 935 thousand heads. Among the regions in the lead in terms of livestock is the Turkestan region (424.7 thousand heads of horses). In the republic, in all economic entities annually, once a year, a planned allergic study of animals is carried out on the glanders of the horse with a diagnostic test with mallein. According to the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan in just 6 years 2016-2021, about 2,906,819 of horses from all regions of the republic were maleinized.