strangles blood tests

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olliesmum

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My friend's two had strangles in March. Fortunately they weren't too ill. She has been told not to take them off the yard without a clear blood test. She had them tested a month ago and again last week and the readings have actually gone up for both. Can anybody explain why this is? How long is it likely to be before she gets a clear test?
 
They can have various grades i.e. mild with barely any symptoms right through to bastard strangles and can also be reinfected as they don't develop immunity. They can be carriers for a very long time and there is no time frame for expecting a negative test. Mine has just recovered and we arent bothering with testing until the whole yard has looked symptom free for at least a week. Luckily they're all retired so don't go anywhere anyway, but it must be really frustrating to have a working horse stuck on the yard. I hope they have negative tests soon.
 
The actually blood test (Elisa I think its called) only tests for the presence of antibodies which can still be in the system for around for upto 6 months after the actual infection. It doesn't actually prove if the horse is carrying or shedding the bacteria - that needs to be done by swabbing. The blood test is used to see if a horse has been exposed to the bacteria in the last 6 months or so; therefore good for situations like new horses coming onto a yard or as a pre-test to actual swabbing.
My horse recently had strangles and had three swabs, all came back negative but a positive blood test - vet concluded that horse had been exposed to strangles, hence the presence of antibodies, but were not carrying/shedding the bacteria anymore, evidenced by 3 clear swabs.
If your friend has to wait for a clear blood test, she will need to wait until the antibodies have gone..which could be 6 months or a lot longer.
She needs to go down the route of swabbing to show the horse isn't shedding the bacteria and as such, is safe to go off the yard
Lots more information on this on the World Horse Welfare website.
Hope your friend is allowed off yard soon - it's a really frustrating time.
 
Hi there. I've just had the blood tests done as it was a requirement for moving to a new livery yard. My 2 year old showed up as having been exposed to strangles at some point in his short life. Interestingly enough, my 7 yr old who has been with him since he ws 5 months old showed no exposure whatsoever which means my 2 yr old was exposed as a foal over 18 months ago. The blood tests only show if a horse has been exposed to the infection. My horse then had to have his gutteral pouches flushed and a swab taken to see if he was a strangles carrier. Fortunately the results came back saying he was ok. To make sure your friends horse isnt a carrier he will need to be scoped and gutteral pouches flushed. Telling your friend she cant leave the yard until she gets clear blood test is bollocks cos all the test will tell is that he's had exposure. Even if your friends horse is a carrier, he can be cured, its expensive but can be done. Horse will have to be scoped and antibiotics put in to gutteral pouches, left for a couple of weeks then scoped and flushed again until horse shows clear.

Hope this helps, if unsure its best to contact your vet.
 
PM me if you like and I'll give you my number. it will be much easier to explain on the phone. The vet that scoped my horse used to work for the Animal health Trust specialisin in Strangles so it wa svery interesting and informative.
 
Hi. You should tell your friend that you can get the all clear from one vet visit if she has the guttoral pouches scoped and washed with an endoscope. If no pus or condroids are present and the wash is culture negative then thats as good as you can get for proving the horse is not a carrier. (Not v easy in Shetlands though!)
 
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