What You Need to Know About Strangles in Horses
Spring is in the air and summer is rapidly approaching (finally!), we can’t wait to get people back in the barn and pastures with the horses. Watching the snowmelt, the crocus’ bloom and the green return has got us really excited for a new season, and to see all of your lovely faces and smiles. Although we can’t wait to welcome back everyone, we wanted to touch on an important topic that’s been weighing on our minds - a disease that is making its rounds called strangles.
In an effort to keep our horses as healthy as possible, we invite you to learn more about this disease.
What is Strangles?
Strangles is a highly contagious disease that affects the upper respiratory tract of all equines, yup, even our little ones! It’s one of the most commonly diagnosed diseases in equines, and can affect any horse, regardless of it’s age, sex, or breed.
I’ll be the first to admit it… It’s got a pretty scary name.
It’s caused by a bacteria (Streptococcus Equi) that crosses the mucus membranes (think nose and mouth) of horses and leads to infected lymph nodes that cause abscesses. These abscesses can rupture, it is uncomfortable and can lead to infection.
So in other words, not very pleasant at all.
The incubation period is about 3-14 days, and the first symptom is generally a fever. Afterwards, nasal discharge, cough and depression rear their ugly heads, followed by difficulty swallowing, increased respiratory noise and extended head and neck. Of course, as with any other disease, not all horses will show the same symptoms, or the same severity of disease, so it’s especially important that we remain vigilant when going from one barn, or area with horses to another.
Since some horses will only show mild symptoms, or be completely asymptomatic it can rapidly spread through a herd by horse to horse contact, or on the clothes, boots, feeding buckets and even the hands of handlers. Strangles is a disease that does not discriminate and we want to keep all our mini’s as safe as possible so we can all continue to enjoy the delight they bring into our lives every day.
How Do We Treat It?
The main treatment for strangles is generally supportive nursing care… so lots of TLC! The key is making sure they get enough fluids and food, and love. Isolating any sick horses always plays a big role in stopping the spread of the disease among the herd, and medications can play a role as well depending on the severity. Generally horses will recover within 3-4 weeks, but like any disease, some can take longer.
That being said, just because they’re recovered doesn’t mean that they are no longer infectious! Rule of thumb is to isolate the horse for at least 6 weeks to prevent further spread of strangles.
That being said, just because they’re recovered doesn’t mean that they are no longer infectious! Rule of thumb is to isolate the horse for at least 6 weeks to prevent further spread of strangles.
Six weeks can be a long time for our mini’s to be away from all their pals! Testing is the only way we can ensure the horses are no longer infectious, and thankfully we have some helpful vets to help us in that regard!
Help Stop the Spread
The bacteria that causes strangles exists in the wild, but more often than not the infection is spread from horse to horse. As we mentioned above, it can also spread by contaminated clothes and boots and hands from riders, handlers and visitors. Thankfully, recent research shows that the bacterium doesn’t tend to live for more than 3 days outdoors, and will last an even shorter time if exposed to the sun. We can also do our part and disinfect and clean surfaces that may come in contact with the horses.
If you’ve recently been to other pastures where horses are present, pet or socialized with other horses, or otherwise interacted with equines before coming to our farm, we ask that you help us in keeping our very high standards of cleanliness to prevent infection.
If possible, don’t wear the same gloves or jackets or clothes that you wore to see other horses, and please wash your boots between any visits as well. A little bit of preventative care can really go a long way in this scenario.
“These small steps can help tremendously in helping to prevent the spread of the infection and keep our mini’s happy and healthy, so they can continue helping you to be happy and healthy!”
Unfortunately we’ve been seeing an increase of this disease in recent years here in New Brunswick and I wanted to let folks know the proper protocol to help reduce the spread. Thank you so much for doing your best to keep our horses safe and healthy.