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  Discussion on Possible strangles contact with mare about to foal
Author Message
Member:
Imogen

Posted on Wednesday, Mar 23, 2005 - 5:47 pm:

Hi Dr O

The Advisor is just a fantastic resource. Your Strangles article is pretty comprehensive, I would just like to check I am doing the right thing at the moment and that I haven't misunderstood the recommendations.

Sunday (4 days ago) I went riding at my friend's livery stables. Before riding I helped out by strawing three stables. Thought it a little odd that her favourite horse was in a stall made of gates within the straw barn on his own, he seemed a bit dejected but he's an old gent so I didn't take much notice.

Went home, luckily my day panned out that I had a bath and changed my clothes before feeding my horses in the field including my mare who is about one week from foaling date.

Today Wednesday I discover my friend knew that this horse had strangles and did not tell anyone. Several horses are now down with it.

I have disinfected/washed all jackets boots etc. that have been anywhere near her stables and done my buckets just for good measure. I am taking my mare's temperature every day while I am feeding her, no temperature so far, no swellings, no snotty noses.

My understanding of the article is it would be pointless to vaccinate her at this stage as the protection isn't effective for 6 weeks by which time she will definitely have had the foal and ditto there is no point vaccinating the foal under 4 months. Let alone the other issues with the vaccine.

It is also my understanding that if she or either of her two fieldmates show any suspicious symptoms I should get the vet straight away to attempt to get enough penicillin into them to keep the infection consequences down to a minimum.

It is also my understanding that if she goes 10 days (my vet's advice) or 12 days (your article) without a temp or symptoms I should be OK from the point of view of taking her to the stables that is supposed to foal her without risking infecting them. I have to ring them tomorrow to tell them about the possible strangles contact and I'm hoping to come to an agreement with them that if she goes 10-12 days from last Sunday they will still take her. Otherwise it'll just be a case of leaving her out in the field here, let's hope the weather is good and it's an easy birth...

Thanks for any advice. Like I said, I think it's all in the article but I just want to be sure I am doing everything I can.

I would also like to help my friend out over the next week or so by checking the "healthy" horses that are out to grass for her. Do you think that as long as I am having a bath and changing my clothes when I come back this is safe or should I just put the foal before my friend and keep away?

Best wishes

Imogen
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Mar 23, 2005 - 11:41 pm:

Imogen, sounds right to me. How sure are they this is Strangles and not Rhino?
DrO
Member:
Imogen

Posted on Thursday, Mar 24, 2005 - 4:21 am:

Abscesses popping out of throats, has been diagnosed by experienced horse vet practice and I believe but not sure confirmed by path lab.

Now about 8 horses out of 40 definitely have it. My friend who I am very fond of but who wouldn't exactly have a scientific approach to life knew about it for around a week before she told us all. She has v poor hygiene practices eg no individual buckets but is now learning fast.

Fortunately I am about 2 miles away from her stables so as long as I didn't bring it home on Sunday I think we're safe. Still no signs but today is only day 4/5 so not out of the woods yet.

.... and in a disinfecting panic yesterday I washed my jacket with my phone in the pocket!!

Do you think it's OK for me to go and help her out as long as I am very careful about disinfecting myself when I get home?

Thanks

Imogen
Member:
Cara2

Posted on Thursday, Mar 24, 2005 - 4:45 am:

Hi Imogen. The decision is yours of course, but I'm afraid I would stay well away. It is bad enough for an adult horse to catch strangles but a foal...

Your friend must put a bucket of disinfectant by the yard gate. Anyone entering and leaving should dip their boots in it. Also regularly changed buckets for hand washing before and after. You could easily bring home the virus on the upholstery of your car so I suggest you have "dirty" clothes which you only wear on your friend's yard and keep them in a dustbin liner in your car. I believe that all yards with such cases should put notices up informing of the situation. Prevention is always better than cure and it is far more shameful to knowingly allow the situation to continue than to admit you have the disease. It can happen on even the best run yards. In the area where I used to keep my horse the yards are pretty close together and one outbreak would always spread down the line. There was no doubt it was airborne contamination, either blowing on the wind or spread by birds.

I wish you the best of luck and have everything crossed for you and your mare.
Member:
Imogen

Posted on Thursday, Mar 24, 2005 - 11:23 am:

The good news is that amazingly a Nokia mobile phone can survive a full 40 degree C cycle in a washing machine... now who'd have thought that. Probably means the bugs can too...

Imogen
Member:
Chohler

Posted on Thursday, Mar 24, 2005 - 3:40 pm:

Glad to know other people wash their phones.

Our area has had a real outbreak of strangles since november wich has been fun. The barn I work at doesn't have great hygine practices and 8 out of 35 horses had strangles, I disenfected everything with a quanternary disenfectant because I didn't want to carry it home (no bleach I think it says somewhere you need amonium chloride or quanternary) including myself and boots, etc. these horses were still allowed to share water sources so I don't know why I bothered to go the extra mile. The good new was the boarded pregnant mare never caught it and had a healthy baby 2 weeks ago.

I would change my clothes and spray myself good before ever coming in contact with my horses.

I just had strangles last month at my house, so I questioned all these measures but my vet told me some of my neighbors had strangles and any small animals could have tracked it onto my property. That made me feel better. My horses have separate water sources and the last case i had was over three weeks ago, now i have a filly that has had a high temp for 5 days and a profuselly running nose, no swelling lymphnodes though. My vet told me he won't give any antibiotics untill after the lymphnodes have ulcered because it will move internal and cause bastard strangles. I had a gelding with bastard strangles last year and it wasn't pretty.

I found it best to pour 1 oz. of disenfectant into a spray bottle that I carried everywhere with me and sprayed everything I touched. I also used a bucket to dip my shoes in.

Strangles is not airborne but any small critter cats, dogs, birds, rodents etc.. will carry it where ever they track through.
Member:
Warwick

Posted on Thursday, Mar 24, 2005 - 3:51 pm:

My old Nokia phone even survived an accidental dunk in the toilet.

Strangely enough that incident prompted an overwhelming desire to rush out and buy a new phone...
Member:
Imogen

Posted on Friday, Mar 25, 2005 - 1:57 am:

Our local specialist horse vet came down to speak to all the worried owners (about 40 people including rabbits friends and relations who all turned up, it looked like a riot was about to take place...) and he was very good.

He is about 55, very measured calm person who pointed out in his entire career he has only ever seen one horse, elderly and neglected, die of strangles and while it is a dreadful inconvenience and very uncomfortable for the horses it is controllable and if caught at the right moment treatable.

He also pointed out there is usually quite a lot of strangles around it's just people keep very quiet about it. He said there have been 60 cases in our area just that his practice has seen in the past 2 months not counting the 3 definite and 2 suspects at my friend's place.

He was very good and answered everyone's questions including mine - if my mare goes 1 week from the possible contact without a temp rise then it is safe to take her to the foaling farm and the guy that owns the foaling farm is happy with that. I just hope the mare has heard this as she is starting to bag up... I've tried explaining to her she has to hang on at least another 3 days!

I was a little concerned that the vet didn't give the correct info on disinfectant but I think this is because he was trying to get rid of a load of Equisept disinfectant left over from the foot and mouth scare in 2002... most of the kids at the stables have washed their tack in Jeyes fluid which is pretty useless as I understand it.

All the best

Imogen

PS Sue - yes, I think somehow I would have bought a new one in those circs as well... but I definitely have the cleanest phone around at the moment!
Member:
Dyduroc

Posted on Friday, Mar 25, 2005 - 9:24 am:

Imogen, I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope that your mare stays healthy so you can move her to the foaling farm!

Don't feel badly about laundering your phone--I've done the same thing. Mine didn't survive, however, but at least they were able to recover the memory chip! Technology and washing machines--incompatible!

D.
Member:
Imogen

Posted on Friday, Mar 25, 2005 - 10:41 am:

Thanks D, I'll keep you all posted.

Imogen
Member:
Chohler

Posted on Friday, Mar 25, 2005 - 12:11 pm:

I found my disenfectant through a chemical supply/industrial/janitorial supply , they carry products for animal shelters. The chemical required is in one of the strangles articles. Quanternary or amonium chloride? I use a product called biodet 64. I spray everything with it including my hen house...
Member:
Chohler

Posted on Friday, Mar 25, 2005 - 12:15 pm:

What is the temp where you are at? I was also told if I had to move a horse that was near strangles but cannot be comfirmed with strangles, that you can give them a bath before arriving or hose off the legs and hooves real good. Don't know if it's true though.
Member:
Imogen

Posted on Saturday, Mar 26, 2005 - 12:01 pm:

Hi Cheryl her temp is normal so far 37.5 degrees - but I just broke the thermometer (doh!) so I now can't measure it till after the weekend unless I do something not really to be recommended which is use the temp probe of my husband's volt/resistance meter. (As in, it works, but he's not too keen on me putting it in a horse's bottom!)

There are no problems so far except one of her fieldmates has a snotty nose but I don't think it's anything (I hope...), no glands up anyway. Fingers crossed.

Imogen
Member:
Imogen

Posted on Monday, Mar 28, 2005 - 2:16 am:

Our vet is recommending (for local horses that haven't yet been in contact with the Strangles outbreak) a new UK vaccine. Here's the article on it from Horse and Hound

Animal health company Intervet UK Ltd has launched the first strangles vaccine in the UK.



Strangles is the most common diagnosed bacterial infection in horses. The name is grimly apt: the bacteria cause the lymph glands on a horse's head and neck to swell, restricting its airways and making it harder to breathe.



Although seldom fatal, strangles is very debilitating and highly contagious — especially among foals. It takes a long time for horses to recover and they are at risk from unpleasant complications, such as bleeding from the limbs, eyelids, and gums.



The new vaccine, Equilis StrepE, helps reduce both incidence and severity of the disease, although it does not guarantee complete immunity.



“No vaccine ever provides 100% protection,” says Alasdair King, senior veterinary advisor at Intervet UK. “With this, we expect at least 75% of horses not to show any sign of the disease and the remaining 25% to get some mild signs, but no abscesses.”



Strangles vaccines have long been available in countries such as the United States and Australia, but this is the first time one is released in Britain. “The UK and Europe have very tight rules — tighter than other country — which is why no vaccine was available here until now,” explains King.



It has taken Intervet 12 years to develop this version. Most strangles vaccines available abroad contain dead bacteria, which give a weaker immune response, whereas the Intervet vaccine uses a live modified strain of the strangles bacterium.



“With strangles, it is very difficult to get a good immunity, so we reckoned that the best way was to use live bacteria and make sure they couldn't survive,” says King.



The Intervet vaccine is also administered in an innovative way through an injection into a horse's upper lip. “It's a completely unique method, in that a very small volume of vaccine is given with a very fine needle that goes only 2mm into the lip,” says King. 'Because of these factors, horses hardly notice it at all.”



The vaccination gives immunity to strangles for three months. When horses and foals are vaccinated for the first time, they must get two shots four weeks apart. After that, boosters should be given every quarter to horses at high risk of contracting strangles, such as those who live in an area where outbreaks occur frequently.



Horses at medium risk can be vaccinated every six months, but they need to get a booster shot if an outbreak takes place and it has been more than three months since the last vaccination. There is no need to vaccinate horses that rarely have contact with others, because strangles is transmitted by horse-to-horse contact or via shared tack, tools and water troughs.



The risk of reactions to the vaccine is very limited, according to King. “The main thing an owner would expect to see when the vaccine is administered for the first time is a slight swelling to the lip, but it doesn't bother [horses] at all. Their demeanour remains good.”



Owners who believe their horse would benefit from receiving the vaccine should speak to their vet.



Assessing the risk

High-risk situations — vaccinate every three months.


Horses kept in premises where strangles has been diagnosed in the past


Horses kept in groups, where new horses of unknown origin are regularly added


Horses kept in an area where strangles outbreaks are known to occur




Medium-risk situations — vaccinate every six months but give a booster if an outbreak occurs and it has been more than three months since the last vaccination.


Horses residing in stables with other horses, but there are no other horses introduced into the group regularly


Horses frequently travelling to shows or competitions




Low-risk situations — No need to vaccinate.

Very little contact from other horses
Member:
Chohler

Posted on Monday, Mar 28, 2005 - 5:31 pm:

Hmmmmm voltmeter???? Interesting thought. hehehe
Glad everythings going ok.
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