Technology Details:
Glanders is a fatal infectious and notifiable disease of equines caused by Gram-negative bacterium, Burkholderia mallei. The natural hosts for B. mallei are horses, donkeys and mules. Other than equines, glanders can be naturally contracted by sheep, goats and camels. It is a zoonotic disease and human may acquire infection from glanders affected equines. To overcome the diagnostic difficulty of glanders performed by complement fixation test (CFT), we have developed recombinant protein based indirect ELISA. Three recombinant proteins namely Hcp1, TssA and TssB were individually validated for glanders diagnosis at OIE referral lab on glanders, Germany. The kit is a cost-effective, less time taking (3h) and robust. One ELISA plate has the capacity to test 42 samples in duplicate, with a reagents shelf life up to 6-9 months at 4°C. The Hcp1 ELISA kit is presently being used by State Animal Husbandry Department for glanders surveillance.