strangles

Cazza525

Cazza525

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Anyone give me any info? ie....symptoms and incubation period.

Basically friend has just purchased a horse from a dealer and that particular yard is rumoured to have had starngles in the last 3 weeks.
 
symptoms: swollen glands around the head and neck, abcesses around head and neck, raised temperature, snotty nose, horse looking off colour.

Incubation: horse should be isolated from other horses and regularly swabbed and checked by vets, it will need anti biotics and other medicines and when off medication and horse looks better it will be another 4 -6 weeks before the vet will take another swab and bloods etc. to make sure horse has no bacteria left. everything beloinging to the horse will need disinfecting at least twice with a 48 hour break between the 2 times. Then the horse is probably best to be turned away on its own in a field to recuperate especially if it has broken wind (damaged breathing organs).

Horses shouldn't leave the yard until the infected horse has been given the all clear!

I think it would be a bad idea to buy a horse from a yard that has strangles, and if its too late, the horse has already been bought, i would quarantine the horse in isolation for 2 weeks before i would let it near another horse!!!
 
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okie dokie. I told my friend to get a blood test done before she collected and to wait 28 days before socialising with other horses...............

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you need to do nasal swabs not blood tests. symptoms will show in 14 days. i would speak to the vet who did the vetting as strangles in highly contagious so they need to know so they can disinfect there equipment.
 
Not all horses are given antibiotics, it all depends on the severity of the outbreak but my mates horse was on a yard that ended up being quarantined for near on a year as the strangles went from horse to horse..

If the yard had strangles in the last 3 weeks I'd be extremely cautious and definately contact the vet that is dealing with that yard.
 
The new blood test is much more reliable than nasal swabs but tests for antibodies to strangles bacteria so to be sure the horse is clear another blood test will need to be done 10-14 days after the first. Between samples the horse should be kept isolated and remain free of symptoms.
 
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