Strangles help

[hopon]

I have re registered as I am trying to help a friend and although I think people should be open when they have strangles on their yard, it is not my place to put it on the internet.
The yard where my friend keeps her horse had a new livery arrive who had a bit of a cough and a discharge. They had just bought the youngster and that is all I know. The vet came and tested for strangles , no one went near the pony. The results came back and it was positive for strangles. It was put on bute, it has got no worse but no better.
The other horse were still being turned out but have seperate grazing paddocks although they can talk to each other. Another horse got a discharge so was tested , my friend had her pony tested as he was copd and she was worried that he may have it and she might put it down to copd if he coughed. Hers came back clear but the other horse positive. Another was tested and came back as a carrier.
The horses are now all fully stabled but my friends pony is old and getting very stiff as it has been in now for 4 weeks. The first pony is still the same and still on bute. The vet says they all have to wait until the pony gets better then all be tested again. The vet did give a talk to them all this week but my friend is completely fed up. They can't go anywhere , of course, she is not allowed to get anyone else to do her horse [used to pay sometimes to have a morning off] and they can't see an end to it. I think the second horse was being 'flushed'. Any advice, I feel so sorry for her as it is costing loads to keep her pony in on bedding and hay . Is there no treatment for strangles or does it just run its course and what if another one gets it.
Sorry if you think this is wrong to have new user name but I am a regular on here just don't want to offend anyone.

 

[be positive]

If it is a big yard it may be harder to isolate the infected horses but I cannot see why those that have tested clear are still being stabled 24/7 .
The old pony will probably be safe, they seem to become immune when they are older as then have often been exposed in the past. If only some horses have been tested it could take a long while to run its course and in the meantime the healthy ones are suffering by being shut in.
I do not see why no one else can do your friends pony, if proper restrictions and disinfecting is in place, if they are on the yard anyway why can they not do another one they just need to take extra care.
4 weeks with no improvement sounds rather worrying, when I had it in my yard they were over the worst within a week and back in work in 4, I looked after them all, no choice, the ones that were out stayed out, the best place with no direct contact, the ones that were in were kept apart. I did healthy ones first then the two with strangles last before going in and changing etc. They were on antibiotics once the symptoms were fully showing. I dont remember giving them bute but it was some time ago.

I would think the YO and vet need to make a better thought out plan, the owners must be fully involved in order to get things sorted out.
This should bump up for you and maybe someone with more recent experience will have other views.

 

[hopon]

Thank you for your reply, I feel so sorry for my friend but it is one of those things I suppose. They are using Jeyes fluid to drive over and to wash in so hope no one else gets it but the vets just seem to be leaving it to run its course. No one is allowed to even ride in the outdoor arena ,I believe. We think it is madness but of course everyone wants to keep it controlled. Yard owner won't let anyone do each others horses just in case one is infected. So sad for everyone there, it is quite a big yard, my friend can't even seem to find out where this original pony came from.
Still everyone can rest assured that no one will be catching it from this infected yard as they are being so careful.

 

[Grumpy Jewel]

Leaving it to run it's course is the usual procedure. Mine had no bute and luckily was out at grass when it struck so we didn't have to worry about disposing of used bedding and tools ect. Every came into contact which made life easier as they where moved to a separate paddock if they showed symptoms. It seemed to takeforever to leave but once the abscesses had burst life was much better.

 

[spike123]

if you already have a carrier on the yard the chances are that none of the other horses who have been in contact with the carrier will get strangles as they will already have been exposed to it before you knew. The new pony on the yard has probably contracted strangles from the carrier and not brought it onto the yard. I assume the new pony is still relatively young or has come from somewhere it didn't see alot of other horses, hence not being exposed previously to it. If the horses haven't caught anything and there have been no new cases in the 4 weeks that they have been in then they will not get it. The incubation period is usually around 2 weeks and certainly no longer than 21 days.Given that the horses have been in 4 weeks there is NO RISK of them catching it now unless of course there have been new cases in that time. Providing no other horses are coming to the yard and no horses are going off of the yard then there is no reason you can not use the school or turn your horses out unless there is a possibility of them drinking water from a source that has been drank from by an infected horse. If there is a communal water supply then best option is to scrub it out using something like virkon which will kill the strep bacteria and then refill it. Otherwise it will remain contagious for up to 2 months from the time it was in contact with the bacteria.