Bought horse from dealer in West Yorkshire with Strangles

shelly19

shelly19

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Hi, Just a warning to people buying in west Yorkshire that I recently bought a horse from a dealer there which very quickly became ill after arrival. Confirmed with Strangles and it's been an heartbreaking to watch this poor pony suffer so much with it. Vetting didn't pick it up and horse has now been confirmed as a carrier too. Dealer is still advertising ponies for sale.
 
shelly19 said:
Hi, Just a warning to people buying in west Yorkshire that I recently bought a horse from a dealer there which very quickly became ill after arrival. Confirmed with Strangles and it's been an heartbreaking to watch this poor pony suffer so much with it. Vetting didn't pick it up and horse has now been confirmed as a carrier too. Dealer is still advertising ponies for sale.
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Did the pony come to you on a transporter? This happened to a grazer I once padlocked with, horse had come from the place it had lived for many years on a public transporter, went down with Strangles a few days later. She must have caught strangles from the transporter.

Diagnosed as a carrier she must have had strangles in the past.
 
Tnavas said:
Did the pony come to you on a transporter? This happened to a grazer I once padlocked with, horse had come from the place it had lived for many years on a public transporter, went down with Strangles a few days later. She must have caught strangles from the transporter.

Diagnosed as a carrier she must have had strangles in the past.
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Dealer delivered the pony on his wagon and horse was coughing the day after so was very quickly diagnosed. Vet has now scoped and flushed the gutteral pouches where pus was found in one. Vet said this means she would've become a carrier due to this,
 
There is a dealer in West Yorks with ongoing court cases including one involving strangles. If you care to pm me the name I can give you a link to fb page set up to help if it's the one in question. It also implicates their local vet.
 
I live in West Yorks and there a definitely a few cases of strangles around at the moment. Seems to be rife..sadly. Could you pm me the name of the Dealer please? There may be a pattern forming.
 
Izzwizz said:
I live in West Yorks and there a definitely a few cases of strangles around at the moment. Seems to be rife..sadly. Could you pm me the name of the Dealer please? There may be a pattern forming.
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Yes, I know of a suspected case too. I hope that no one is knowingly allowing this to spread :(
 
I now know of two confirmed cases in Bradford. Both are being properly managed as far as I'm aware, so I'm just hoping that it doesn't spread to Leeds.
 
I know of one confirmed case in Bradford. Quite a few negative results on horses with the snots there too. Yards nearby have been on lockdown while tests were being done and will stay locked down now. It looks like it's been caught early and properly managed.
It's the height of the showing season though, so plenty of horses have been transported and mixed with others.
 
cootuk said:
I know of one confirmed case in Bradford. Quite a few negative results on horses with the snots there too. Yards nearby have been on lockdown while tests were being done and will stay locked down now. It looks like it's been caught early and properly managed.
It's the height of the showing season though, so plenty of horses have been transported and mixed with others.
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Bit confused by this as my vet said they could only test for it at least two weeks after the resolution of the symptoms. Mine then tested positive and had to be scoped after a positive result. The person I bought from is also still advertising horses for sale.
 
shelly19 said:
Bit confused by this as my vet said they could only test for it at least two weeks after the resolution of the symptoms. Mine then tested positive and had to be scoped after a positive result. The person I bought from is also still advertising horses for sale.
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Identification of Streptococcal equi bacteria can be done as soon as there are signs of sickness. It will show even in the early stages when the nasal discharge is still watery.
 
I believe these were swabs as they take a few days to culture. The blood test needs antibodies and, as you say, may not show anything for a couple of weeks
 
Dealer horses with a compromised immune system through stress often pick up strangles,or ringworm ,AT THEIR NEW YARD. The truth about strep Equi and the many different strains ,is contrary to so much accepted wisdom. Try not to play the blame game and just do the right thing by your new horse.
 
Mike007 said:
Dealer horses with a compromised immune system through stress often pick up strangles,or ringworm ,AT THEIR NEW YARD. The truth about strep Equi and the many different strains ,is contrary to so much accepted wisdom. Try not to play the blame game and just do the right thing by your new horse.
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Mike007 - Agree with Bonkers 2 - Strangles is a bacteria and that doesn't survive that long unless it has a host - The receiving yard would have to have live bacteria present to infect the horse.

I remember decades ago any horse that came accross from Ireland on the ferry generally developed Strangles, and that was because the boat itself was full of live bacteria. We always isolated anything that came from Ireland in those days, regardless of how healthy it looked on arrival.
 
As I said,the practical experience does not agree with the accepted wisdom. I believe that due to far greater movement and mingling of horses, the game has changed and my direct experience is that strangles often goes entirely un recognised . It comes as a shock ,quite often ,when a prospective new livery is asked to have a blood test and fails,yet there is no known outbreak.By the way ,Anthrax is also a bacteria so please dont believe that bacteria cant survive without a host.
 
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Mike007 said:
As I said,the practical experience does not agree with the accepted wisdom. I believe that due to far greater movement and mingling of horses, the game has changed and my direct experience is that strangles often goes entirely un recognised . It comes as a shock ,quite often ,when a prospective new livery is asked to have a blood test and fails,yet there is no known outbreak.By the way ,Anthrax is also a bacteria so please dont believe that bacteria cant survive without a host.
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STRANGLES - The disease is spread when the nasal discharge or material from the draining abscess contaminates pastures, barns, feed troughs, stables etc.

ANTHRAX - Anthrax is spread by contact with the spores of the bacteria, which are often from infectious animal products.
 
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