IOTADERMA #226

What are caterpillar bodies and in what diseases do they occur?

Robert I. Rudolph, MD, FACP

Answerwill appear in the JAADOnline section of theDecember issue of the Journal.

OCTOBER IOTADERMA (#225)

We dermatologists delight in arcane names, and one such term is ‘‘farcybuds.’’ What are these, and in what disease are they found?

Answer: ‘‘Farcy buds’’ is one of the cutaneous manifestations of chronicglanders and consists of deep nodules, which sometimes ulcerate, andoftentimes occur in a sporotrichoid pattern on a limb. Glanders is aninfection afflicting both animals and humans, and is caused by the bacillusBurkholderia mallei (formerly called Pseudomonas mallei). The clue to thediagnosis in people (along with pathology, rising antibody titers, andculture) is a history of close contact with mules or horses. Treatments ofchoice are the antibiotics ceftazidime, meropenem, or imipenem, althoughother antibiotics can be used.

REFERENCES

Dvorak GD, Spickler AR. Glanders. J Am Vet Med Assoc 2008;233:570-7.

Estes DM, Dow SW, Schweizer HP, Torres AG. Present and future therapeutic strategiesfor melioidosis and glanders. Exp Rev Anti Infect Ther 2010;8:325-38.

Robert I. Rudolph, MD, FACP

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