Strangles update and box rest

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Dexter

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well for anyone who read my previous post strangles still hasn't been confirmed. But today one of the horses that was a bit off 'coughed up' a load of puss/gunk and started showing a lot of snot and saliva. At that point the horses owner insisted on a swab being done, but it pretty much seems a given now :( It will take 7 to 10 days to get an answer either way.

The yard has gone on to lock down! Nothing has left the yard, even for a quick hack, since this started, but now nothing is allowed to leave the box for the next 4 days. We've had disinfectant at the entrance to every block of stables since it was suspected. Now everyone has anti bac spray/disinfectant and we have sprayed EVERY surface we could. We haven't done all the floors, but quite a lot have been and pretty much everything else has been done! Including ALL fencing and tie up areas as well as the path to the muck heap!

If after 4 days they aren't showing symptoms (including a slightly raised temp) they will be allowed on the yard and a limited leg stretch.

I'm still in awe of how a run down, not managed really, DIY yard, has pulled together like this! I cant imagine how this would have panned out on the way nicer, 120+ horse yard where my sister has her riding horses! But I'm also a bit :( about my mare not even being allowed out for a walk round.

She gets ad lib forage, huge buckets of low molasses chaff, a huge turnip and carrots hidden in her bed, as well as loads and loads of mutual grooming. Anything else I can do?? Shes coping soo well, I just want to make this as easy as I can for her!
 
keep doing what you are doing and it shouldn't spread to far, my mare got it and by doing the above mentioned precautions she was the only one on a 25+ yard to have it. and at that time i had 2 horses.
 
I have to say I think this may be being ott not letting them out of their boxes. You are likey to end up with colics and stress induced problems from this. I suppose it depends on your layout though..A better plan would be to split the yard into small groups if possible. Say you're in groups of 6 stables, that's one group. Don't allow them any contact with other groups. Give each group an 'area' to walk the horses out in at the very least, to get legs moving etc.Obviously depends on whether you can keep these areas separate.
Any low risk horses (had absoloutely no contact and not stabled near/have any associations with any infected horses or high risk horses) would be best turned out (in a pasture that can be rested if any do turn out to be infected)/ moved to the furthest part of the yard away from the infection, ideally in small groups.
Only those horses displaying symptoms should be confined to 24hr box rest, and any they are in contact with should be classed as high risk and kept separately from the low risk. This will minismise the inter yard spread.
However that very much depends on how your yard is set up, I appreciate that, just another idea to help prevent the horses in what must be a difficult time for you all.
 
SusieT said:
I have to say I think this may be being ott not letting them out of their boxes. You are likey to end up with colics and stress induced problems from this. I suppose it depends on your layout though..A better plan would be to split the yard into small groups if possible. Say you're in groups of 6 stables, that's one group. Don't allow them any contact with other groups. Give each group an 'area' to walk the horses out in at the very least, to get legs moving etc.Obviously depends on whether you can keep these areas separate.
Click to expand...

Thats pretty much the lay out we have. A couple of American barn type stables with 6sih horses in, and the others are separate blocks of stables, again of 6ish

SusieT said:
Any low risk horses (had absoloutely no contact and not stabled near/have any associations with any infected horses or high risk horses) would be best turned out (in a pasture that can be rested if any do turn out to be infected)/ moved to the furthest part of the yard away from the infection, ideally in small groups.
Only those horses displaying symptoms should be confined to 24hr box rest, and any they are in contact with should be classed as high risk and kept separately from the low risk. This will minismise the inter yard spread.
However that very much depends on how your yard is set up, I appreciate that, just another idea to help prevent the horses in what must be a difficult time for you all.
Click to expand...

The above is an issue. Winter turnout is limited, so we have 5 smallish trash paddocks which let people turnout. Some horses go out 12 hours a day, some go out 20 minutes a day, but pretty much everything goes out. All of those paddocks are accessed by going through the main yard. The one we could use as an isolation paddock, is adjacent to one of the summer turnout paddocks.

The idea behind the 4 day thing, is that if they have caught it, 4 days is the incubation period?

I will again point out how in awe I am of the way a run down total DIY yard has pulled together to discuss and decide the best way forward! If I had to deal with this, I'm bloody glad its on this yard! We are all, horses and people, coping, but NO ONE wants this to affect the summer. We are all united in our views that in winter you just knuckle down and cope till the better weather comes around and you start to enjoy it again :D So everyone is giving 110% to containing it and making life as nice as possible for the 'inmates'!
 
SusieT said:
I have to say I think this may be being ott not letting them out of their boxes. You are likey to end up with colics and stress induced problems from this. I suppose it depends on your layout though..A better plan would be to split the yard into small groups if possible. Say you're in groups of 6 stables, that's one group. Don't allow them any contact with other groups. Give each group an 'area' to walk the horses out in at the very least, to get legs moving etc.Obviously depends on whether you can keep these areas separate.
Any low risk horses (had absoloutely no contact and not stabled near/have any associations with any infected horses or high risk horses) would be best turned out (in a pasture that can be rested if any do turn out to be infected)/ moved to the furthest part of the yard away from the infection, ideally in small groups.
Only those horses displaying symptoms should be confined to 24hr box rest, and any they are in contact with should be classed as high risk and kept separately from the low risk. This will minismise the inter yard spread.
However that very much depends on how your yard is set up, I appreciate that, just another idea to help prevent the horses in what must be a difficult time for you all.
Click to expand...

Have you ever been on a yard with strangles??

Having just only recently had our yard clear of strangles after months of lock down, the 4 days of no movement sounds like a good idea.
Hope you are clear soon, and dont have a second wave like we did from horses moving around the yard!
 
The incubation period is TWO WEEKS, not 4 days! Any horse stabled within sneezing distance of one that has snot will be exposed, whether it's in its box or not.

The infection lasts on average four weeks after symptoms are first seen, and your yard will not be clear therefore until two weeks after the last horse to get it no longer shows symptoms. The bacteria stays in the soil/grass for a long time, and in water troughs for longer. We had to rest fields for a specific period of time, scrub and disinfect then re-fill water troughs. Google for exact timings or ask your vet.
 
mystiandsunny said:
The incubation period is TWO WEEKS, not 4 days! Any horse stabled within sneezing distance of one that has snot will be exposed, whether it's in its box or not.

The infection lasts on average four weeks after symptoms are first seen, and your yard will not be clear therefore until two weeks after the last horse to get it no longer shows symptoms. The bacteria stays in the soil/grass for a long time, and in water troughs for longer. We had to rest fields for a specific period of time, scrub and disinfect then re-fill water troughs. Google for exact timings or ask your vet.
Click to expand...

Agree 4 days wont contain it, we had a further outbreak 3 weeks after the last one and just as we had the all clear!
 
xxMozlarxx said:
Have you ever been on a yard with strangles??

Having just only recently had our yard clear of strangles after months of lock down, the 4 days of no movement sounds like a good idea.
Hope you are clear soon, and dont have a second wave like we did from horses moving around the yard!
Click to expand...

Echo the above statement! Our (mine and parents) yard had strangles. Within a week, all the horses caught it (even though everything was separated & disinfected to high heaven!). It is insanely contagious and should be a notifiable disease in my opinion. Out of our 5 horses that caught it, 4 recovered and one developed complications and died.

To be certain that you are free of the disease (this is if your yard does come down with it) you need all horses tested to see if they are carriers (even if they never showed symptoms). 10% become carriers for the rest of their life and will continue to infect others.

Testing (guttoral pouch endoscopy) is not a nice process believe me even though they are sedated (the alternative- swabbing, only picks up 40% of carriers so is fairly useless) . I practically lived in overalls/gloves and covered in harsh disinfectants for about 5 months, I was devastated when we lost the youngster and when we found out we had no carriers and it was all behind us i couldnt stop crying i was so relieved..........

sorry to have rambled on..... my point was that i dont think keeping horses in stables/isolated is unfair, if it helps eradicate this awfull disease
 
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