From my "13 horses out of 28 had strangles 3 years ago" experience.
Here is what I learned from the Internal Medicine Vets At Oklahoma State
University:
1- DO NOT GIVE THE VACCINE - the Internists there refuse
to give the vaccine unless an owner demands them to do so
2- A horse which has had Strangles in the past OR has
been vaccinated can get the secondary, often fatal, complication called
Purpura. We had a horse get it and he was hospitalized for 18 days - first
in ICU, near death, for nearly 2 weeks at OSU, and then in quarantine for the
remainder. He came home with 6 weeks of IV meds, etc.
3- There will be times when you have no idea where the
Strangles virus came from.
4- There are SOOOOO many strains now that the typical
symptomology we look for may not be relevant
5- Once exposed, most horses develop a high immunity to
the strain they experienced.
A brief review of our experiences:
This all started in May.
We had no new horses come into the rescue for 5 months. We had no
illnesses. One day, one horse (one of mine) showed a slightly snotty
nostril and an elevated temp. This horse had not been off the place for
1.5 years. DX - Upper Respiratory Infection.
Within a couple days another horse got sick, this one a rescue which had
not been off the place for 1.5 years. Same initial symptoms.
BUT, also displayed some choke signs. Took her to the Vet. Vet
tried to tube. Unsuccessful. Referred to OSU for endoscope.
OSU said that there had been an outbreak of Strangles in OK. Was this
strangles? Vet said, absolutely NO. So, appointment was made.
I postponed the trip for one day as I was not certain she would make it without
hanging IV fluids due to rapid dehydration. She got better........within 2
days. So, no trip to the hospital.
Then 4 more horses ill. Called the Vet out to come and swab the noses
for a culture. By the way, NONE of the horses showed the classic
submandibular abscesses. On the day the Vet arrived the most recent
"patient" showed a thumb nail sized abscess (very small) under his
jawline. It has opened and was draining. CRAP!!!
Strangles.
We had nearly 30 horses, and all run together, so all exposed. So,
our Vet's decision was to vaccinate all which had not shown symptoms. BIG
MISTAKE!! One of those had apparently had Strangles as a yearling (we
checked with the breeder) and developed the Purpura. He was rushed to OSU
and we saved him. Within 2 days, another developed Purpura (his 1/2
sister) but we knew what we were dealing with and got it stopped with Dex and
high doses of antibiotics. This mare was not hospitalized.
It took us over 12 weeks to get through all the sick horses and then 6
weeks of post symptomatic self-imposed quarantine. We worked hard on
isolation procedures, etc. for months. Since then......knock on
wood....nothing.
We STILL do not have a clue where it came from . We had no horses off
the place. There had to be a carrier (remember, no new horses for 5
months) but which one????
After that experience, I will never vaccinate for Strangles
again. For 98% of the horses, this is a benign, contagious disease.
For most, they don't even go off their feed. It just is not worth
it.
As a side note - the horse which was in ICU for Purpura came back from his
ordeal, which started in June and ended in early September, to win the 2006
Arabian Horse Association 1/2 Arabian National Competitive Trail Ride
title.
Just my "more than just one rat" opinion.
Karen Everhart MEd Co-founder and Executive Director Rainbow Meadows
Rescue and Retirement, Inc. Serving the equine companions who have so loyally
served us... www.rainbowmeadowsranch.com 620-725-3402
Owner/Operator Horse Calls - Equine Management Solutions Centered
Riding Instructor Distance Horse Conditioning and Training www.horsecalls.com 316-648-5082
