Strangles is a highly contagious upper respiratory bacterial infection in horses.
Route: The disease is contracted through environmental contamination, nasal discharge, or direct contact with infected animals.
Symptoms: High fever of 103° to 106°F, loss of appetite, a moist cough, clear nasal discharge that becomes yellow, difficulty in breathing and swallowing (as if strangling, hence the name), swelling of submandibular (under the jaw) lymph nodes that rupture.
Treatment: Isolation, antibiotics such as penicillin can be used before abscesses develop. Antibiotic treatment should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
Prevention: Quarantine of new arrivals, vaccination, on-farm biosecurity.
