STRANGLES WHY EVEN BOTHER WITH QUARANTINE OR ISOLATION???

[SACHAPIGER]

SORRY. Wanted to draw attention. There is another loop going a bit further down, but I wanted to try to glean as much opinion as possible. Yard has 5 confirmed cases of strangles.
One seriously ill. Owner of one horse on yard we sadly do not have control over, (the suspect carrier who brought it on to the yard in the first place!) insisting that their vet (A HIGH PROFILE LAMBOURNE VET) says it is <font color="red"> </font> for them to hack out their horse, (in an area highly populated with horses, private owners and small yards). I do not believe this. I do not believe for one milli-second that a vet would say this. Messages left for said vet to ring us. Nothing yet.
Makes such a mockery of our rather O.T.T. Hygiene, isolation, and quarantine measures, - to see a horse happily hacking off into the midst of so many other private owners, and yards.

Do any of you have vets that believe it is ABSOLUTELY FINE to hack a horse out from a so-called quarantined yard, with five confirmed strangles cases.... ??????? We are powerless to stop this person, but maybe the AHT, RCVS, or even DEFRA, or simply the RSCPA might be able to do something?

clues anyone??? I managed to stop said person today, not pleasant, not pleasant at all!!

 

[Nari]

Where?!?!

I live in Lambourn &amp; keep my horses nearby - I'm panicking now!

 

[Tiffany]

I don't believe a vet would say it was OK to ride out and it sounds like the owner is just a selfish, thoughtless numpty!!

 

[nadinek82]

Phone your own vet and ask him/her what can be done to try and prevent this selfish owner from putting other horses at risk. Failing that i would contact everyone in authority to try and help, ie, rspca, ilph, police

 

[peanut]

That's one selfish and totally inconsiderate owner and I don't believe for one moment that her vet told her it was OK to hack.

My yard had strangles a while back and the only way we got over it was by absolutely EVERYONE obeying the recommendations of the vets - i.e. not to hack out. We all ended up with cabin fever and all the disinfecting etc drove us nuts, but it was worth it.

Unfortunately strangles is not a notifiable disease, all you really have is pressure from other owners.

 

[AmyMay]

I would phone the practice and ask them what their policy is when advising clients about the management of strangles.

I was very concerned this time last year because we had several cases of strangles very close to where I keep my horse - and I was concerned about people hacking out from infected yard, and comming in to contact with my horse.

But to be honest, whilst I am in no way at all trying to dismiss your concerns, I was getting a little hysterical for no reason.

Unless the horses are in direct contact with either an infected horse or handler of that horse then the likelihood of transmission is zero. It is an airbourne virus - just like a cold. So contact has to be pretty direct to transmit it.

Of course it would be preferable if people didn't hack off an infected yard - it's common sense really. But it can't be stopped (confirmed by DEFRA).

So if you meet any horses out hacking - just steer clear.

 

[EquineOnline]

I have just removed (brought him home) my horse form a DIY yard with Strangles on it. I was disgusted with the attitude of the owner of the Strangles horse and of the other liveries. The horse which had confirmed Strangles had been in isolation but the owner put him back in the field with all the other horses the day BEFORE she got the positive result. She said that her vet said it would be ok as he was not snotty any more. Bo**ocks of course but none of the other liveries stood up to her. tried to get eveyone together to discuss the situation but ended up getting bitched about, branded a trouble causer, had sh*t dumped outside of my stable and note I had left with facts about Strangles on defaced. People on the yard are not apparantly hacking out but are not taking it serously enough!! The horse that alledgedly brought it on the yard has NOT been tested for strangles either. Neither have other horses that have shown symptoms.

Anyway....my horse is now home and safe. He had a gutteral endoscopy last week which looks clear. Just waiting for confirmed results.

BTW I rang the vet of the first horse with Strangles and he said that as Strangles is not a notifiable disease he can't make people do anything. He can only advise. Unbelievable that all the other liveries chose to believe her rubbush.

My own vet is horrified at the whole situation.

 

[Dolcé]

http://www.equine-strangles.co.uk/documents/BHSSTEPSStrategytoPreventandEradicateStrangles_001.pdf

the link has details of the voluntary code to eradicte strangles. IMHO your YO should be closing down the yard, no horses on or off until after the infected ones are all well clear of the disease, perhaps the rest of the owners could bombard him/her with requests to do this as it is the only responsible action to take. If the owner insists on taking the horse out then she should not be allowed back, perhaps the threat of that will shock her into agreeing. I would also be tempted to let all local yards know to avoid your area and to watch out for her, perhaps being harangued by local horse owners whilst she is out hacking will make her see sense.

 

[mlm]

that is the part i find stupid that it is no a notifiable disease. if i was to get food poisioning(can't spell it) the doctor would notify enviromental health. we had it last year and 2 liveries did a flit in the night and there is nothing you can do. so some other poor YO might get it on there yard. the main problem is the stigma around strangles if people where honest and open about it like the owner of patchetts was it would not be so bad. when our yard had it i was told by the dealer that sold the horse with it that there was a large sj yard that had it and they were still competing

 

[pocket]

Ralph has had strangles twice, its a myth that they only get it once....sorry had to get it off my chest as having been through it twice I know a bit about it.....

Horses should not be alowed off the yard until the last horse has had three clear swabs! Yes it takes for ever but these were the rules we went by.

We also had a complete numpty who's horse was really poorly with strangles and lost loads of weight take her horse off the yard for a GALLOP whilst my boy was still producing snot like the x files.......

Unfortunately, you cant tell some people

 

[Tia]

It's not a myth Pocket; loads of vet studies have been done over the years and it is proven that 75% of all horses who contract and recover from strangles, will hold immunity, often lifelong immunity, to it. Your horse must have been in the unlucky 25% who don't.

 

[Tierra]

As Tia said, its no myth, its just that there is no 100% guarentee on horses developing lifetime immunity.

MOST will develop immunity that covers them for a few years. About 3/4s develop immunity that covers them for the rest of their lives. Of the remainders, some will be vulnerable to contracting it again and some will remain silent carriers (and its these that generally cause the problems)

In regards to the initial situation; the fact is, its hard to do anything about it. Strangles is not notifiable in the UK which i find somewhat hilarious but that remains a fact. While i cant imagine any vet has openly condoned hacking out while the yard is at risk, actually stopping this person is going to be near impossible.

However, as AmyMay already pointed out, owners tend to become rather hysterical about strangles but unless an infected horse is either in direct contact with another bunch of horses or is in direct contact with objects that they have contact with (e.g. fencing, a water trough etc), the chances of it spreading in this way are quite slime.

Admittedly, its still not pleasant that shes prepared to do this, but unless her hacking takes her into direct contact with another yard's horses, hopefully, it wont spread.