310 GLANDERS BACILLUS 



Resistance. The Bacillus mallei may be kept alive for a long time 

 in artificial cultures, provided these are sealed and kept in a cool, 

 dark place. The bacillus is easily killed by heat, an exposure for 

 ten minutes at 56 C. destroys it. It is likewise easily killed by the 

 ordinary antiseptics, such as corrosive sublimate, carbolic acid, etc. 



Bose reported that he exposed pieces of cotton, etc., infected with 

 young, virulent glanders bacilli to the action of formalin vapors and 

 that they were killed after five hours. The author, however, has 

 found that young cultures on glycerin agar tubes, exposed after the 

 removal of the cotton plugs in a tightly closed anatomical jar to 

 formalin vapors, survived after three days. It appears, accordingly, 

 that formalin vapors are not to be depended upon in disinfecting 

 stables where cases of glanders have occurred. Sulphuric acid in J to 

 2 per cent, solutions, milk of lime, chloride of lime, and the chemicals 

 of the carbolic acid group are dependable disinfectants for glanders- 

 infected buildings, harness, etc. 



Diagnosis. In typical advanced cases the diagnosis of glanders may 

 be made from the clinical findings. As a rule, an accurate diagnosis 

 cannot be made from the microscopic examination of a nasal or 

 cutaneous purulent discharge, but only after inoculating a guinea- 

 pig or after the mallein test or the agglutination test. 



The microscopic examination of virulent discharges is much 

 invalidated by the fact that they generally contain a mixture of 

 bacteria among which it is difficult and often impossible to recognize 

 the glanders bacillus. The probability of a successful microscopic 

 diagnosis is much greater when the material for examination consists 

 of soft necrotic material from the interior of a not yet ulcerated or 

 opened glanders nodule, either from the nasal mucosa, the skin or a 

 submaxillary gland. The necrotic or purulent material is spread on 

 a cover-glass, air dried, fixed, and stained with Kiihne's carbol 

 methylene blue or with Loeffler's methylene blue, and then washed, 

 as already described, in an acetic-acid tropeolin 00 watery solution. 

 Even in favorable material glanders bacilli are present only in mod- 

 erate numbers, but a diagnosis may be obtained if they are character- 

 istic in shape and staining properties (Gram negative) and other 

 bacteria are absent. The attempt may also be made to raise pure 

 cultures from such material obtained aseptically and showing only 

 one kind of bacillus. 



The Biologic Test for Glanders (Strauss' Test). The best animal 

 for the inoculation test for glanders is the male guinea-pig. The test 

 is made as follows: Some of the suspected material obtained under 

 very aseptic precautions is rubbed up with sterile physiologic salt 

 solution and 1 to 2 c.c. of the mixture is injected with a sterile hypo- 

 dermic syringe into the peritoneal cavity of the animal. The injection 

 is made immediately above the symphysis pubis. When the material 

 contains virulent glanders bacilli a swelling of the testicles, which are 

 now hot and painful, develops after two to four days. If the animal 



