Symptoms:
- Decreased appetite and depression.
- Fever (greater than 102 degrees F).
- Cloudy discharge from both nostrils.
- Superficial lymph nodes become inflamed, enlarged and tender to the touch. These lymph nodes are located under the jaw, in the throatlatch area of the upper neck, and rarely, over the eye sockets or in the chest or abdominal cavity. The inflammation is due to the accumulation of purulent fluid (pus) within the lymph node.
- Affected horses may stand with neck outstretched to relieve pressure in upper neck. Later in disease, lymph nodes often burst and drain pus from openings in overlying skin.
- Complications of disease are seen in 10 to 20 percent of cases (these should be considered emergency situations requiring immediate veterinary care).
- Difficulty in breathing and signs of distress due to compression of trachea by enlarged lymph nodes in the neck. This can lead to death by asphyxiation (source of the name “strangles”) and may require emergency lymph node drainage or insertion of a breathing tube through the trachea.
- Life-threatening infections caused by internal release of pus from deeper lymph nodes into the chest or abdominal cavity (internal or “bastard” strangles).
- An allergic reaction to S. equi can cause blood vessel inflammation with swelling and edema of the legs (purpura hemorrhagica).
- Strangles is often fatal in young foals (less than six months old) that did not receive sufficient colostral immunity as newborns.
- Strangles is sometimes considered to be a disease of foals and young adult horses. Older horses are often immune to strangles due to prior exposure during their youth, or they may display only lethargy and nasal discharge without obvious lymph node swelling (however, these animals can still spread the disease).
Main Cause:
Streptococcus equi
For the knowing how strangles is transmitted, how to prevent and how is the treatment done, please visit this site:
http://www.umext.maine.edu/onlinepubs/htmpubs/1009.htm
11-11-07, 06:51 AM
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