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  Discussion on When is strangles most contagious
Author Message
Member:
cspanhel

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 8, 2008 - 3:21 pm:

Dr. O, i just had a mare diagnosed with strangles. By the time she showed symptoms that caught my attention (primarily loss of condition and a slight cough), it was well advancedn and severe. She has been aggressively treated and is in isolation 50 feet from all other horses.

I have 15 horses here (broodmares, foals, maiden mares, pregnant mares, studs), most of whom run in a single herd and the others are cycled through the barn and into a turnout pasture. Every horse has had either direct or indirect exposure to the infected mare.

I wondered at what stage in the disease process is strangles most contagious.

Knowing this might help me set some priorities in terms of stabling. I am not set up for another 50 foot isolation if another horse gets ill. I have to build pens/fences to separate all the horses into 3 groups as your article recommends. I'm not trying to cut any corners, just trying to set priorities within the limits of what I can manage to get done now and lower the odds of another horse getting sick.

I have disinfected the barn, water buckets, feed buckets, etc., and I'm following an isolation protocol with the sick mare--disinfecting myself and changing clothes before dealing with any other horse.

Thank you. cynthia
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 9, 2008 - 7:58 am:

It is the nasal discharge that carries the bacteria into the environment and explosive coughing spreads it the farthest. Your case of strangles sounds atypical as weight loss is usually secondary to the fever and depression of the primary infection or seen after recovery due to internal abscessation. I am interested in how the diagnosis was made?
DrO
Member:
cspanhel

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 9, 2008 - 12:16 pm:

The diagnosis was made based on culture results. Though the horses were running on 30 acres, I was in contact with this mare daily. I never saw a discharge...there could have been one that didn't catch my attention. Certainly, there wasn't a pussy nasal discharge.

This particular mare has a history of noticeably losing condition when nursing a foal. So, when she started to lose weight, I just assumed this was the problem. I weaned the foal, but the mare continued to lose condition and very rapidly. She wouldn't eat all of her food, and coughed some while eating, some of these coughs were explosive but mostly not. But she started acting markedly ill/depressed, and at that point, I checked her all over and found a hard lump in the submandible area. That is when she went to the vet.

They said she had a guttural pouch infection, which could be associated with strangles. The culture was taken, and my vet referred me to a specialist who scoped her, flushed the pouches, lanced abscesses, and so on.

She was off premises for all of this treatment, which game me time to disinfect.

So far, only one other horse is showing any respiratory symptoms--a yearling colt. He has a fever, a little discharge, a little coughing, but he is not acting very sick. He eats well and is thoroughly bored with confinement and lets us know it.
Member:
judyhens

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 9, 2008 - 2:07 pm:

Cynthia,
Our thoughts and prayers are with you! Walter mentioned this the other day. Brett Scott discussed Strangles at the Foundation fund-raiser. If I can find the hand-out I will scan it and shoot it to you. Sounds like you are doing everything right. Is the mare perking up now? What are they being treated with? Which vet did you go to? We have a baby at Elgin recovering from foal pneumonia. He is almost clear now. Took him in prior to the horse show on Thursday. Then had to chlorox the trailer, etc., before we loaded the show horses. The little one got sick virtually over-night...lethargic and had a fever, but alert and nursing well. They still don't have cultures back...but he has responded to antibiotics. They said the noise is almost gone and the x-rays are almost clear. We have cloroxed his stall, paddock, etc. So we can empathize with you! Fortunately, this baby was the youngest and had not yet been turned out with the other foals and mares! We are going to the IALHA board meeting this weekend, so will probably leave the little guy until Sun. or Monday if he needs continued antibiotics.....

Keep in touch!!!! Again, our thoughts and prayers are with you and your horses!
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