Horse Diseases: Strangles

Strangles is an extremely contagious and potentially fatal bacterial disease in horses, donkeys and mules. Strangles gets its name from the sounds that horses with the affliction make as they struggle to breathe. The disease strikes horses of any age, but mostly those between one and five years old.

  1. Bacteria

    • Strangles is a worldwide problem for horses, brought about by exposure to the bacterium known as Streptococcus equi. The bacteria can get into the animal's feed, water and bedding, infecting it and making the horse contagious from three to ten days after it has been infected.

    Symptoms

    • The initial symptoms of strangles include a very high fever, a distinct lack of appetite and lethargy. A watery discharge from the nose follows, which turns thicker and yellow as the lymph nodes in the horse's upper respiratory system are affected.

    Swollen nodes

    • The lymph nodes that exist between the horse's jawbones will become quite enlarged when strangles develops. These nodes can be extremely noticeable and have the potential to become abscessed or even break open.

    Significance

    • The symptoms of strangles will exhibit themselves two to six days after a horse has suffered exposure to the bacteria that causes the ailment. When the disease is not treated, it can bring death to about ten percent of the horses, normally from a secondary cause like pneumonia.

    Treatment

    • There is a vaccination against strangles that reduces the chances of a horse coming down with the disease. Once a horse has strangles, a veterinarian will isolate it from other horses and treat the symptoms with antibiotics.