Strangles Vaccine?

Gallop_Away

Gallop_Away

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So there has been an outbreak of strangles on several yards in our area. Our vets are now plugging the strangles vaccine and I'll admit I'm looking into it. My horses are all in good health although my boy's are 19 and 18 so not as young as they used to be.
Does anyone have their horses routinely vaccinated for this? Does anyone have any experiences with side effects?
Any experiences/opinions appreciated x
 
My young horse has had one dose of the vaccine and is about to get the second (given a month apart). It was injected into her pectoral muscle. She was a little sore in front the next day, but that was it (a bit like we might have a sore arm after getting the flu vaccine). My motivation for getting her the vaccine is that she's about to move to a big livery yard (around 60 horses) and it seems like a good idea.
 
I've been vaccinating my older one for a few years now as he goes out and about meeting new horses quite a lot. I've got muddled up - he was sore after one of his vaccines but I can't remember if it was strangles - but now I just give him bute after vaccinations and that seems to prevent any issues. But other than the usual localised stiffness you'd expect after a vaccine, he's never had an side effects to the strangles jab.
 
Mine has it alongside her flu/tet boosters 6 monthly. First jab was done seperately to check for any side effects, but only had the usual slightly sore injection site.

She has it for my peace, so i'm comfortable when we have new horses on the yard or i'm out competing as not everyone will practice bio security.
 
How effective is it? I know it won’t totally stop vaccinated horses getting it…the vets at our yard are also now pushing for this. I’m not against it as we do compete a lot…I just know very little about it. No cases in our region that I’ve heard of
 
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This is really good info:

vet.ed.ac.uk

Strangles vaccination | The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies | The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies

Information for horse owners on the vaccine Strangvac
vet.ed.ac.uk vet.ed.ac.uk


Many horse owners will be aware that a vaccine against Streptococcus equi equi, the bacterium that causes strangles, called Strangvac, became available in 2022. We now have the benefit of three years’ experience of its use in about 10,000 horses throughout Europe, along with a scientific review published in the Equine Veterinary Journal in 2024.

Key points:​

  • The vaccine is very safe: about 5 per cent of horses experienced heat, pain or swelling at the vaccination site - in the muscle, similar to influenza and tetanus vaccines - which either resolved by itself or with anti-inflammatory medications, such as Bute. Only very rarely were other adverse reactions reported. The vaccine does not inject live bacteria into the horse, so strangles cannot occur as a result of vaccination
  • The vaccine is effective at reducing the clinical signs of strangles: as with flu or Covid-19 vaccines, the disease is not eliminated in all cases, but horses are much less likely to show signs of illness and signs are less severe. Crucially, the rate of abscesses developing is vastly reduced, which in turn means that horses are much less likely to become carriers of disease
  • The vaccine also helps to protect other horses that your horse contacts: vaccinated horses shed less bacteria so are a lower disease risk to other horses that they meet, at home or away. For this reason, the overall risk of a strangles outbreak at a yard is minimised if all horses at the yard are vaccinated, but there is still benefit to vaccinating only one horse
  • Vaccinated horses can be differentiated from horses which have developed antibodies as a result of disease: this means that the blood test that is commonly used to screen horses for recent exposure to Streptococcus equi equi can be used in vaccinated horses. It will also not interfere with guttural pouch scope results
  • Vaccination should be used alongside other biosecurity measures: vaccination is not a panacea. An isolation period of 2-3 weeks for new horses entering a yard is advisable, especially when coming from high-risk situations such as dealer yards or group transport. While the blood test for antibodies has its place, recent evidence has shown that it does not reliably detect long-term carriers of disease. Some yards have the policy of carrying out the more accurate guttural pouch scope but because this is invasive and expensive, most do not. Therefore, vaccination of a whole yard could be a useful adjunct to, or even replacement for, blood tests
  • Vaccination is cost-effective: when compared with the cost of an outbreak, which is estimated by insurance companies to be about £1000 per clinical case. While some strangles cases are mild and uneventful, full-blown strangles is very unpleasant for the affected horses and can lead to serious long-term sequelae and, rarely, death. An outbreak at a commercial yard usually has significant negative financial consequences, so risk mitigation with vaccination is worth considering
  • Safety in pregnant mares has not been fully established: anecdotally, the vaccine appears to be safe for pregnant mares, but this is based on unpublished data, so the risks and benefits should be discussed in each case.

Which horses should be vaccinated?​

In theory, if all horses were vaccinated, it might be possible to eventually eradicate strangles. However, this is unrealistic, and efforts should be concentrated to vaccinate horses at medium to high risk:

  • Horses at livery yards with movement on and off the yard
  • Horses travelling to training, competition or stud
  • Horses which are thought to have contacted a clinical case.

What is the vaccine schedule?​

A primary course of two injections about a month apart are given. Horses must be healthy at the time of vaccination.

The original data sheet recommends a booster vaccination at 2 months in high-risk situations. However, antibodies are known to last for at least 12 months. A pragmatic approach has been adopted throughout the UK and Europe with boosters being given every 6-12 months, following the initial course, the frequency depending on risk assessment by vet and owner. Should the horse be exposed to a known case, immediate revaccination will maximise protection. Booster vaccinations which run over by more than one month should be restarted, as data demonstrating immune memory beyond the 12-month period is lacking.

The vaccine is not licensed to be given alongside other vaccines, but extensive anecdotal evidence has shown no increase in adverse events if given at the same time as flu or tetanus vaccines, making it a practical option.
 
I was talking about it to my vet when he was here to do routine bloods last week. He basically told me what Cragrat has posted.

I think I'm going to get the ridden horse vaccinated in Spring when hopefully we'll be starting to get out and about again.
 
Thank you @Cragrat that’s very helpful!

I think we will probably get it done as we do compete a fair bit and the yard I’m at does arena hires so there are lots of people coming and going throughout the week, not onto the main yard but in the arena etc
 
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