Strangles in vicinity. How worried should I be?

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Rose Folly

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As title. Strangles has broken out in an equestrian centre about 3 miles from us as the crow flies.

My livery horses consist of three happy hackers and two field ornaments. They are very rarely in close contact with outside horses, are not competed or travelled, and lead quite sheltered lives! However, one of them has gone for a week or two to a friend to try to fatten him up. She's currently doing quite a lot of pleasure rides and so her horses probably HAVE been in contact with others.

Just how contagious is strangles? I'm wondering whether this horse should stay where it is for the moment (it's literally 300 yards from us) until the outbreak is over, or am I being melodramatic. It's a disease I have no experience of - hence my worries! any advice gratefully received.
 
Rose Folly said:
As title. Strangles has broken out in an equestrian centre about 3 miles from us as the crow flies.

My livery horses consist of three happy hackers and two field ornaments. They are very rarely in close contact with outside horses, are not competed or travelled, and lead quite sheltered lives! However, one of them has gone for a week or two to a friend to try to fatten him up. She's currently doing quite a lot of pleasure rides and so her horses probably HAVE been in contact with others.

Just how contagious is strangles? I'm wondering whether this horse should stay where it is for the moment (it's literally 300 yards from us) until the outbreak is over, or am I being melodramatic. It's a disease I have no experience of - hence my worries! any advice gratefully received.
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I would consider that or suggest she vaccinates if she has been out a lot with others it is a really nasty disease and not to be taken lightly.
 
If you're very worried, ask your vet to come out and give them the vaccine (although I'm not sure they'd do this if they considered there to be a chance one of your horses had already contracted the disease). I don't know much about strangles myself, admittedly. We never seem to have it about up north as far as I've heard.
 
The vaccine is not recommended by many vets and causes more problems than it prevents. Strangles is spread via contact with an item which a contaminated horse had left bacteria on. It's at it's most contagious when no symptoms are visible, from memory I believe 10 days is the incubation period. I would keep an eye on them for swollen glands, watch temp and google a plan of action. It's really not nice, but most horses come through strangles looking rough by the end, but ok.
 
We have had it at countless yards here in the last year or 2, spreading thanks to YO not restricting liveries/walkers touching lots of different horses etc.

If your worried you could ask for the horse to be scoped before it came back?
 
Strangles is passed on by contact with the snot it is contagious but has a 21 day incubation period before symptoms show. First symptom is usually a high temperature. You could put in a trough with disinfectant that cars drive through and have a boot dip. Sunlight kills the bacteria in about half an hour. I've been at 3 separate yards what have had strangles whilst I've been on them and my ponies haven't had it. Ask her to only use her tools and disinfect all tools to start with if you're incredibly concerned. But 3 miles with nobody going in and out lots it's pretty unlikely you'll get it. Its not difficult to deal with if they do. Just get the vet. New drugs are pretty good!
 
Oh I mean it kills bacteria on cars in sunlight in about half an hour but its only contagious for the first 10 days
 
Having had to deal with this a lot over the past year, I would suggest having the horse that is due to come back isolated at the friends yard for 2 weeks then blood tested before it comes back. Two weeks is the time it will take for the anitbodies to show in the blood test. If it comes back positive on bloods that doesn't mean the horse has strangles, just that it has been exposed, so you can then do a scope which will determine whether it has the strangles bacteria or not.

As for the horses that are currently on the yard, just let liveries know that they are to be cautious - no touching other horses or going to other yards, and possibly avoid hacking routes that may be shared by other yards.
 
Even though you hear of the odd case where strangles turns bad, it is still a relatively "go through the motions" type of condition for most people and horses. It can be a pain to deal with though and safety measures should be put in place.

With the horse that is supposed to be coming back, I'd make sure it is totally quarantined for 1 month either at the place 300 yards up the road or at your place if you have the facilities to deal with quarantine. Forget about the 14 days standard isolation that most places do, strangles symptoms can show after 14 days and although it's rarely a big deal it is a nuisance. I'd also have the horse swabbed before putting it in with the others after the 30 days.

For the time being, best if you are able to keep the existing horses on your yard away from the yard that has strangles, or better still, keep the horses on your property until the other yard has been given a clean bill of health again.

Have a Virkon foot bath for any visitors to your yard and keep vehicles away from areas where the horses go. Ask your existing liveries to try to be cautious about where they go and try to encourage them not to touch strange horses.

To be honest, strangles is often around even when people don't hear about the outbreaks. It's just one of those things that we should all be aware of. For example, when I go to any other farms I do not touch the horses and I change my clothes and wash before then going around with my own horses on my return. Simple things can help keep your property and horses safer.
 
I have heard via FB that the yard hasn't closed down and is still hacking out? They also held a fun ride a few weeks ago, so if your friend attended that, I don't think I would want the horse coming back until it's been tested or the incubation period is over. There was a strangles outbreak on a yard very close to us, it was closed immediately and no other yards have been infected.
 
That's what I heard too, Ihotse.

Thank you everyone for your replies. When looking strangles up on Google I saw that a complication is purpura haemorrogica. That I have seen - my pony got it when I was a child, and it was simply horrendous. It has a very high mortality rate but the pony did pull through (this was 1954). The amount of round the clock nursing was monumental and but for my utterly dedicated father's devoted care and huge support from the Royal (Dick) Hospital Ponino would never have made it. So I don't want to see that ever again.
 
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