Glanders Outbreak Exposes Deep Fault Lines

 

By Sharan Kumar

 

The NRCE’s confirmation of glanders in a Bangalore-based juvenile has forced a total shutdown of racing across the southern circuit, laying bare long-ignored weaknesses in veterinary oversight and biosecurity. With Bangalore, Mysore and Hyderabad all under suspension, the sport faces severe financial strain as owners, trainers and clubs absorb mounting costs without racing revenue. Repeat tests every 20 days will dictate the future, with even one new positive threatening an extended blackout.

 

Glanders has not merely halted racing; it has exposed the soft underbelly of an industry that long believed outbreaks happened only in other stables, other districts, other states. The NRCE’s confirmation of glanders in the juvenile Jerom (Arod out of Paramour) has triggered the mandatory three-month shutdown, with repeat testing every 20 days and the grim caveat that even a single new positive restarts the cycle. Bangalore joins Mysore and Hyderabad in involuntary hibernation. The entire southern circuit has fallen silent.

 

The consequences are not theoretical. They are financial, immediate and punishing. A sport that lives off turnover has suddenly lost its bloodstream. Trainers face empty barns and full bills. Owners must maintain horses that cannot race. Stable staff, farriers, feed suppliers and transporters wait for wages that depend on racing days that no longer exist. Clubs continue spending on maintenance, utilities and staff without earning a rupee at the tote. A three-month shutdown is painful; a prolonged one could be existential.

 

What makes the present fiasco harder to digest is that it was not unavoidable. Rumours of glanders circulated well before the monsoon ended, yet meaningful containment never began. Trainers reportedly refused segregation orders. The Chief Veterinary Officer is said to have misdiagnosed early symptoms as fungal infection. Committees dithered, protocols blurred, and the infection quietly travelled until the NRCE report detonated the truth. This was not merely a microbial breach; it was a governance failure.

 

The scientific pathway ahead is clear, and unlike the administrative response, it cannot afford confusion. Glanders detection is multi-layered: qPCR, Elisa, Complement Fixation Test, aspirates from nodules, paired serology and tissue examination after euthanasia. No single test is perfect; India’s national protocol requires them in combination. NRCE has already demanded repeat samples and full histories of exposed horses. Biosecurity is no longer advisory; it is mandatory discipline.

 

But beyond the science lies the uncomfortable question: How will the sport cope? With no racing across the entire southern zone, the sport must brace for restructuring. Schedules will collapse. Young horses will lose developmental time. Sponsors will step back. Some owners, already fatigued by rising costs and declining returns, may exit altogether. Recovery will require more than clearing a laboratory cycle; it will need reform, transparency and strict veterinary governance.

 

The southern turf will gallop again. But when it does, it must not return to the habits that led it blindfolded into this crisis.

 

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