Equine Respiratory Disease

Strangles is a bacterial infection of the horse’s respiratory tract, which can spread from horse to horse, through the horse’s handlers, or even through flies.

Symptoms of Strangles

A fever between 103 and 106 degree Fahrenheit is the first sign of the disease. The horse will have clear nasal discharge initially, changing to a thicker consistency and may be accompanied by a cough. The horse’s lymph nodes will swell and abscesses may open and drain approximately 2 weeks after infection. The disease can be confirmed through cultures of the abscess material. Cultures can also be gathered from the nasal discharge but that is much less reliable.

Treatment of Equine Respiratory Disease

There are several ways to treat strangles. The general agreement is that the horse owner should monitor the temperatures of each horse around the barn where the sick horse lives. If any horse’s temperature is above average then the owner should begin treatment with appropriate antibiotics. With immediate treatment the infection is unlikely to become too intense and involvement with the lymph nodes may be avoided.

Once the disease has progressed past the fever stage and the lymph nodes have begun to swell, they should be poultice and hot packed to encourage them to open and drain. Once they have drained they should be flushed out with a large syringe and a solution of betadine and water.

Risks of Strangles

While the disease itself is not particularly serious and will generally resolve without complications, it can become serious if it becomes a barn wide epidemic or if the horse is not properly looked after for the duration of the disease. This means that an essential part of controlling the effects of strangles is isolating the sick horse as much as possible and being very careful about contact between horses. The horse handlers should try to handle the sick horse only after all other horses have been cared for. Hand washing rigorously is also a necessity. Horses are usually still contagious for up to six weeks following the sickness and so the regime should be kept up during that time period. Horses should be rechecked after six weeks to ensure they are safe.

Possible Complications of Equine Respiratory Illness

There is a rare possibility that the horse will become a carrier of the bacteria, which means that the horse could infect numerous horses if it is kept at a large facility. There is also a small chance of abscesses that form in other parts of the body and a very rare condition named purpura hemorrhagica. In purpura the horse can suffer from swelling of the legs, and other areas of the body as well as organ failure and possibly death.

With all of these possible outcomes and effects it is even more important that horses be vaccinated against this disease, particularly with the possibility of it spreading. It is also important to check on horses regularly to be able to detect this or any other disease early.

Source:

Crabbe, Barb DVM. The Comprehensive Guide to Equine Venterinary Medicine. New York: Sterling Publishing, 2007

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