Strangles

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poor guy. ive never had to deal with strangles, how did your vet suggest to treat it?

A horse will show symptoms within 3 to 14 days of exposure so that should be enough time to quarantine a new horse.

I've dealt with Strangles many times in the past and, truthfully there isn't much you can do except to keep it clean. Vets strongly advise against antibiotics saying that it slows down recovery.

im not just talking about stranges, im talking about all infectious diseases.

around here i think the vet perscribes antibiotics. imo it would speed recovery, especially if a horse is older/ less healthy. alot of horses around here have died from it, so the vets are more agressive w/ treatment.

The times strangles has gone thru barns I was at the vet specifically wanted to avoid giving antibiotics. They want the pustules to open and drain. By giving antibiotics you will at best slow that down. They also lead to issues with bastard strangles.


And the more quarantine the better, sure. But there is also the side of the coin where we (general we) go to shows and events and such and things can easily get passed around there. We can only be careful. We can not prevent everything. Strangles has the bonus that it can easily be spread by someone simply visiting a barn that has it and then going home and touching their horse.

Our quarantine period depends on where the horse came from and the health history of the horse. MINIMUM it's a week. Has been much longer in some cases.

After the abscess has burst - yes PenG for 10 days. Bute if fever is consistent over 102.

Ya Agreed. I worked at a barn where they had strangles go through. They get it every year because the guy beside them doesnt vaccinate his horses and they are always playing over the fence. Where they got it from I dont know.. (they lost a few themselves because he didnt vaccinate) Tis true you can carry it around on your hands and boots, and it spreads like wildfire. Unfortunately alot of horses where I worked that got strangles got the bastard strangles and we lost 6 horses to it. Its a serious illness and also agreed that every new horse should be quarantined just to be safe. Like someone else said no sense in risking the herd for one horse.

Strangles is best to let it run its course. Antibiotics are only given if a secondary problem arises. If you do give them especially too soon it can lead to bastard strangles.

This bacteria can live in dark places for quite some time so this is why you see some farms get it every year. If they bring a new horse in or have foals they get it the following year.

It is very hard to isolate and in my honest opinion its futile. Years ago we had it and used bleach water etc and still every horse got it. Anymore I think of it like kids and chicken pox, just let them get it and get over it.

When you do quarantine unless you do it 4 weeks you really are not doing anything. To many viruses have an incubation of 3 weeks so the horse doesnt look ill until the 4th week. I learned that the hard way too when I used to think 2 weeks was long enough.

We use the guidelines put in place by our vets.

Wow, there is alot of old mis-information flowing.

Minimimun quarantine for new horses is recommended to be 3 weeks.

Recovered horses can shed the bacteria for 3-6 weeks or more after they show no symptoms of strangles.

Symptoms of strangles can appear 3-14 days after exposure however horses may also carry the bacteria and be subclinical (sick but not seriously so that it's not diagnosed) or asymptomatic but shedding the bacteria. Thus any incoming horse no matter where from should be quarantined whether they look sick or not.

The bacteria does NOT survive that long in the environment.It most definitely is not the cause of infections that occur from year to year in a given facility. The bacteria that causes strangles is very susceptible to the bacteriocins found in the environment and even in the best of laboratory circumstances (perfect temp., no bacteriocins to damage/kill it) it only survives outside the body for 63 days.

The reason for recurring infections from year to year in a facility is from carriers-horses who harbor the bacteria for months or years often without showing symptoms of disease after their initial infection. These horses shed the bacteria at random intervals and serve as a chronic source of environmental contamination and infection of other horses.

Antibiotics are now used more often with Strangles because there hasn't been evidence to link antibiotic use to the development of bastard strangles. If it is going to be done is should be started prior to the beginning of abcessation otherwise it will only slow the course of disease. Or in the case of serious symptoms which lead to high fevers or restricted breathing.

All of this information was published by the Academy of Veterinary Internal Medicine in 2005.