Strangles sounds like a terrible disease, in point of fact it is both common and easily treated as long as it is detected in its early stages.
Strangles is a bacterial disease and can be effectively treated in its early stages with penicillin, however once abscesses have started to develop in the glands under the jawbone treatment with antibiotics is less effective and is in some cases contraindicated. Over the past 10 years we have treated well over 300 cases, we have yet to have a fatality.
The symptoms are :-
- Inappetance
- A thick white nasal discharge
- Lethargy
- A very high temperature
- An occasional soft cough
Only in very advanced cases will swellings between the jawbones (towards the throat) be found. These will be hot and very painful to touch.
The disease is highly infectious and is spread via droplets from the nose when the affected animal coughs. A horse can only be infected with Strangles once, there after it will develop a strong immunity. Horses can carry the Strangles Bacteria for many months, but as a rule of thumb stop being infectious once the nasal discharge has dried up. An outbreak is usually finished when there has been no new case for two weeks.
Should you have a case of Strangles prompt Veterinary treatment will usually cure it within two to three days, however recovery takes much longer where abscesses have been permitted to develop. The horse should be isolated and sensible disinfection measures introduced.
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