Announcement

**Pathfinder** · February 13, 2011, 03:33 PM

Re: Prince Edward Island - Two horses have contracted strangles

<TABLE id=apex_layout_271110100662109808 class=formlayout border=0 summary=""><TBODY><TR><TD noWrap align=right>Archive Number</TD><TD noWrap align=left>20110213.0489</TD></TR><TR><TD noWrap align=right>Published Date</TD><TD noWrap align=left>13-FEB-2011</TD></TR><TR><TD noWrap align=right>Subject</TD><TD noWrap align=left>PRO/AH> Strangles, equine - Canada: (PE)</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

STRANGLES, EQUINE - CANADA: (PE)
********************************
A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>

Date: 11 Feb 2010
Source: CBC.ca [edited]
<http://www.cbc.ca/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2011/02/11/pei-rare-horse-disease-hits-pei-horse-bar-584.html>

A horse barn on Prince Edward Island (PEI) is under a self-imposed
quarantine. Two horses have contracted a highly contagious disease
called strangles.

The owners of Giddy Up Acres in Orwell Cove in Queens County are
trying to contain the disease and cope with the financial costs. Fever
is a sign of strangles, so Amanda Currie has taken the temperature of
the 18 horses in her barn twice a day for the last month.

Currie and her partner Scott Tweedy have put their barn under
quarantine because strangles is highly contagious. They don't know
where it came from. The disease is fairly common in Europe but rare on
PEI.

"I didn't panic; at first I was a little worried, but I have a lot of
support from my friends and family," said Currie.

They have to wear protective suits and change or wash their boots at
the door [The suits and boots are to protect other horses and to stop
environmental spread. - Mod.TG]. They've put plywood barriers between
all the stalls so the horses can't touch each other. It's been a lot
of work for the couple.

"A few extra hours in the morning, a few extra hours in the evening,
you can't just run through the barn and clean every stall as you go,
we've got to switch suits, disinfect," said Tweedy.

There is no danger to humans from strangles. In very rare cases, it
can be fatal to horses. It's not clear whether there are any other
cases of strangles on the island. The Vet College hasn't seen any
cases.

"Some people will certainly want to vaccinate, just to give their
horses any extra protection that they can give them. But I think the
biggest thing is management and trying to contain it," said Kathleen
MacMillan, an equine veterinarian at the Atlantic Veterinary College.

To a horse, it's like the flu, which might include swollen glands in
the throat. It affects a horse's lymph nodes in its upper respiratory
tract. It's caused by a bacterium called _Streptococcus equi_.
MacMillan has only seen a couple of cases in her 10 years of
practice.

The horses at Giddy Up Acres are used for riding lessons. The horses
are not allowed to be ridden or go outside, Currie has to walk them,
one at a time. Meanwhile, the couple is missing the income their
riding school usually brings and worrying about the costs of the tests
to clear all the horses in the barn, about CAD 5000 [USD 5062] in
all.

"We just want to assure the horse world that we're doing every
precaution, and we're not going to open our doors or allow anybody in
to ride until the disease is completely eradicated," said Tweed.

They're hoping that will be in time for Giddy Up Acres to open for
March [2011] break pony camp.

--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>

[Strangles is an infectious, contagious disease of _Equidae_,
characterized by abscesses in the lymphoid tissue of the upper
respiratory tract. The causative organism, _Streptococcus equi equi_,
is highly host-adapted and generally produces clinical disease only in
horses, donkeys, and mules. It is a Gram positive, capsulated,
hemolytic Lancefield group C streptococcus, which is an obligate
parasite and a primary pathogen.

_S. equi equi_ is highly contagious and produces high morbidity and
low mortality in susceptible populations. Transmission occurs via
fomites and direct contact with infectious exudates. Carrier animals
are important for maintenance of the bacteria between epizootics and
initiation of outbreaks on premises previously free of disease.
Survival of the organism in the environment is dependent on
temperature and humidity; it is susceptible to desiccation, extreme
heat, and exposure to sunlight, and must be protected within mucoid
secretions to survive. Under ideal environmental circumstances, the
organism can survive 7-9 weeks outside the host. Paddocks and barn
facilities used by infected horses should be regarded as contaminated
for about 2 months after resolution of an outbreak.

The incubation period of strangles is 3-14 days, and the 1st sign of
infection is a fever of 103-106 F (39.4-41.1 C). Within 24-48 hours of
the initial fever spike, the horse will exhibit signs typical of
strangles, including mucoid to mucopurulent nasal discharge,
depression, and submandibular lymphadenopathy. Horses with
retropharyngeal lymph node involvement will have difficulty
swallowing, inspiratory respiratory noise (compression of the dorsal
pharyngeal wall), and extended head and neck. Older animals with
residual immunity may develop an atypical or catarrhal form of the
disease with mucoid nasal discharge, cough, and mild fever.

Metastatic strangles ("bastard strangles") is characterized by
abscesses in other lymph nodes of the body, particularly in the
abdomen and, less frequently, the thorax.

The environment for clinically ill horses should be warm, dry, and
dust-free. Warm compresses are applied to sites of lymphadenopathy to
facilitate maturation of abscesses. Facilitated drainage of mature
abscesses will speed recovery. Ruptured abscesses should be flushed
with dilute (3-5 per cent) povidone-iodine solution for several days
until discharge ceases. NSAID [non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs]
can be administered judiciously to reduce pain and fever and improve
appetite in horses with fulminant clinical disease.

Antimicrobial therapy is controversial. Most authors agree that
initiation of antibiotic therapy after abscess formation may provide
temporary clinical improvement in fever and depression but ultimately
prolongs the course of disease by delaying maturation of abscesses.
Antibiotic therapy is indicated in cases with dyspnea, dysphagia,
prolonged high fever, and severe lethargy/anorexia [loss of appetite].
Administration of penicillin during the early stage of infection (up
to 24 hours after onset of fever) will usually abort abscess
formation. The disadvantage of early antimicrobial treatment is
failure to mount a protective immune response, rendering horses highly
susceptible to infection after cessation of therapy. If antimicrobial
therapy is indicated, procaine penicillin (22 000 IU/kg, intramuscular
injection, twice a day) is the antibiotic of choice.

The affected horses are quite uncomfortable. Sharing of halters and
brushes that may contact the fluid from draining abscesses can spread
the disease to other horses. Those affiliated with the government
veterinary office are quite conscious of biosecurity and are able to
assist the track veterinarian and the owners with proper methods to
avoid spreading the disease.

Portions of this comment were extracted from
<http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/121309.htm&word=strangles>.
- Mod.TG

The HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive map of Prince Edward Island can
be found at <http://healthmap.org/r/0t0X>. - Mod.SH]

[see also:
2010
---
Equine strangles - Australia (02): (NS) 20100606.1881
Equine strangles - Australia: (QL) 20100428.1361
2009
---
Equine strangles - Bermuda 20091126.4056
Strangles equine - USA: (02) (IN) 20091008.3489
Equine strangles - New Zealand (02) 20090923.3346
Strangles, equine - USA (IN) 20090913.3220
Equine strangles - New Zealand 20090905.3126
Equine strangles - Canada: (BC) 20090417.1466]

...

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Prince Edward Island - Two horses have contracted strangles

Prince Edward Island - Two horses have contracted strangles

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