B. mallei are also highly infectious organisms by aerosol and it is widely believed that it harbors the potential for use as a biological weapon [2]. In fact, the bacterium was one of the first agents used in biologic warfare during the American Civil War, World Wars I and II, and Russian invasion of Afghanistan. Consequently, it has been placed on the CDC category B agent list [3]. Inhalation of aerosol or dust containing B. mallei can lead

to septicemia, pulmonary or chronic infections of the muscle, liver and spleen. The disease has a 95% case fatality rate for untreated septicemia infections and a 50% case fatality rate in antibiotic-treated individuals [4]. The ability of B. mallei to cause severe, rapidly fatal invasive infection initiated via aerosol in animals and humans, coupled with intrinsic resistance to antibiotics and diagnostic difficulty at early stage BAY 11-7082 mw of disease

make the bacterium a good candidate as a possible biological threat agent [5, 6]. Our knowledge of pathogenesis of disease due to B. mallei is minimal. The disease was eliminated from domestic animals in the United States during the 1940s and the last reported naturally acquired human case in the United States occurred in 1945. There is little data available on antibiotic treatment of glanders and human cases are treated with the same regimens used for melioidosis, an endemic disease in Southeast of Asia and Northern Australia, caused by Burkholderia pseudomallei. Selleck OTX015 Only one case of laboratory-acquired human glanders was reported to CDC recently [7]. This single Farnesyltransferase human case of glanders corroborated in vitro data with in vivo efficacy for the B. mallei ATCC 23344 strain when a combination of intravenous doxycycline plus imipenem followed by oral doxycycline plus azithromycin successfully controlled a

disseminated infection [7]. However, at present, the treatment of B. mallei with antibiotic therapy is still not well established and no effective vaccines are available. Few in vitro antibiotic susceptibility studies for B. mallei have been performed. The antibiotic susceptibility of B. mallei is similar to that of B. pseudomallei, with resistance to a number of antibiotics [8]. Both organisms appear to be sensitive to imipenem and doxycycline, while most strains are susceptible to ceftazidime, ciprofloxacin, and piperacilin [9]. Unfortunately clinical experience with B. pseudomallei infections has shown that despite good in vitro activity, an antibiotic may be ineffective in vivo [10, 11]. We chose ceftazidime, highly recommended drug for treatment of melioidosis. Ceftazidime belongs to the beta-lactam group, a broad spectrum antibiotic, structurally and pharmacologically related to penicillins, which work by inhibiting the bacterial cell wall synthesis. This third Vorinostat research buy generation cephalosporin is effective against Pseudomonas and other Gram-negative bacteria.