21/01/2025
There has been one confirmed case of Strangles on a yard in North Canterbury. It is important that horse owners know what signs to look out for and how to protect their horses.
Strangles is a highly infectious bacterial infection that causes high morbidity in horses. Symptoms are related to the upper respiratory tract and include:
- Fever (>38.5 deg C)
- Thick, p***y, mucous nasal discharge
- Enlarged or abscessed lymph nodes, often seen as swellings around the head and neck region
- Cough
- Difficulty eating
- Reduced appetite
- Respiratory noise or difficulty breathing
- Complicated cases can lead to pneumonia, guttural pouch empyaema and bastard strangles โ the development of internal abscesses which is often fatal.
It spreads via nose to nose contact and shared equipment/facilities such as tack, brushes, water troughs and yards so horses showing symptoms must be isolated immediately and tested.
What can you do to prevent your horse contracting this infection?
- Vaccination โ there is a vaccine for Strangles which fully prevents infection in some horses and reduces the severity of clinical signs in others
- Do not move your horse on or off a yard that has infected horses
- Avoid nose to nose contact between your horse and infected horses.
- Consider the risks of transporting your horse, especially if it is unvaccinated, to locations where there will be other horses. Younger and older horses will be more vulnerable.
Get in touch with us if you have concerns or questions about Strangles or if you would like more information about vaccination