Humoral immune responses in a human case of glanders.

Within 2 months of acquiring glanders, a patient developed 8-, 16-, and 4-fold increases, respectively, in specific IgA, IgG, and IgM serological titers against Burkholderia mallei. Within 14 months of infection, the titers decreased to the baseline. Serum from this patient was also highly reactive against Burkholderia pseudomallei whole cells. Burkholderia mallei whole cells did not react with sera from patients with other diseases. Therefore, an assay using a B. mallei cellular diagnostic antigen may be useful for the serodiagnosis of glanders.