This is an archived Horseadvice.com Discussion. The parent article and menus are available on the navigation menu below:
HorseAdvice.com » Diseases of Horses » Respiratory System » Strangles & Streptococcus equi »
  Discussion on Naxcel in treatment of Strangles
Author Message
New Member:
Farming4

Posted on Thursday, Apr 7, 2005 - 11:41 am:

Several horses in our barn have contracted strangles after recieving the intranasal vaccine. Nasal cultures have confirmed that the strain is the same as the vaccine. After the first few horses, our vet has decided to use Naxcel 20cc once a day for 14 days because of the inconvenience of have to inject multiple horses twice daily. The drug company is paying for all costs, so the difference in cost is not a factor to us. I have heard from other sources it is against label direction to use Naxcel for more that 10 days. Dr. O does this sound like a reasonable treatment to you, and do you feel it is safe to use the Naxcel for 14 days?
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, Apr 8, 2005 - 8:21 am:

Well I question the need to use for 14 days, I usually treat for 3 days past the resolution of all clinical signs but otherwise this all seems reasonable. Naxcel would be my second choice for treating Strep infections and the once daily treatment is a plus. The label does say 10 days and there are ill effects associated with high or very prolonged administration but in our article on Naxcel is a study of 30 days of administration without serious ill effects in any of the horses in the experiment.

Can you give us more details on this episode? Was there an history of Strangles or other respiratory disease before the administration of the vaccine?
What was the time between vaccine administration and illness?
What does the illness look like?
What does Fort Dodge say about this?
DrO
Member:
Farming4

Posted on Friday, Apr 8, 2005 - 9:59 am:

DrO, 13 horses in the barn were given Pinnacle on Feb. 16, The first horse became noticably ill on Feb. 22. Since then 4 others have come down with it one at a time at 10-14day intervals, except the last horse who we caught very early when his temp. began to rise 4 days after the horse before him becme ill. All sick horses have had nasal cultures done. The first 2 were typed out for genotype and phenotype and confirmed to be the same strain as Pinnacle. No horses in the barn have had a history of Strangles except one who had it more than 5 years ago and had gutteral pouches scoped before comming into the barn. All horses have been given Pinnacle for last 5 years without a problem.
The horses have presented as typical strangles, fever of 102 to104, swollen throatlatch, nasal drainage, all but the first horse also has had leg swelling (Purpura}.
Fort Dodge has offered to pay for all vet and med costs and also do PCR on all horses 30 days after last horse recovers, whenever that may be.
The horses that have become ill have not seemed to follow much rhyme or reason. Mostly older horses that have not had much contact with each other, while others that have had very direct contact with sick horses have not come down ill(yet), inclucing a yearling and a two year old.
Obviously this has been a long story, and all vets consulted have said this doesn't happen and nobody seems to know why it did in this case. Any input/ideas you have would be greatly appreciated. It is obviously very frustrating! Jody
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, Apr 8, 2005 - 6:21 pm:

A fascinating story, and as you realize fascinating is not always good. I remember reading the work Fort Dodge did to try and reconvert it to a active strain and it was pretty good. It is not surprising that they culture out the vaccine strain after all it was just introduced and it is suppose to set up a subclinical infection. But as you describe it surely does sound like either strangles, flu, or rhino. A few more questions:
  • How about cough Jody?
  • Were other vaccines given at the same time and what type?
  • How have they responded to antibiotics?
I can well imagine that Fort Dodge is also running titers for all likely diseases? PCR is a super sensitive technique that can find tiny bits of DNA if present and is currently recognized as the most sensitive test for the presence of Strangles. It is the test used to find chronic carriers and why they want to do it.
DrO
Member:
Farming4

Posted on Monday, Apr 11, 2005 - 10:41 am:

DrO, No other vaccines were given at that time. Coggins were pulled and then Pinnacle was given to all horses. All horses were healthy and nonstressed at that time. A few horses had a slight cough at begining when throat irritation started but that is all. The first two horses were given Pennicillin and the rest Naxcel. All responded well to the antibiotics. The oldest horse (24 yrs) had the most severe case, swelling of lymph nodes in throat and nasal drainage for 7-8 days. Most have had some swelling of lymph nodes, unable to eat off ground, and nasal discharge for 3-5 days.
The yearling started a fever (102) over the weekend and clear nasal drainage so far. Acting a little depressed.
The plan for now is to hold off on doing the rest of the normal spring vaccines until we are sure all horses are well. At this point I wish they would all just get it and get over it. Thanks, Jody
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Apr 11, 2005 - 7:30 pm:

Still a fascinating story Jody, can you tell me who you are discussing this with at Fort Dodge and get permission from you to discuss this with them? I have had several dealings with Fort Dodge tech support over the past several decades and found them very forth-right. I will be glad to publish our conversation here.
DrO
Member:
Farming4

Posted on Wednesday, Apr 13, 2005 - 10:18 am:

Dr O, at this point I would rather not. We are not done dealing with Ft. Dodge on this and I don't want them to think I'm out slandering their reputation by discussing on internet. I hope you understand how sticky things like this can get. If there are more developments I will share them here. Thanks, Jody
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Apr 14, 2005 - 6:12 am:

I will respect your wishes but don't understand Jody, in several of your posts you said that Ft Dodge was paying for all the costs on this and running tests for you.
DrO
Home Page | Top of Page | Join Us!
Horseadvice.com is a BBB Accredited Business. Click for the BBB Business Review of this Horse Training in Stokesdale NC