What Is Strangles In Horses?

How serious is strangles?

Many horses will be very ill while they are infected but start to feel better after 2-3 weeks. However, strangles is sadly fatal in up to 10% of cases. Complications also develop in up to 20% of cases, such as retaining solidified pus in their guttural pouches, having prolonged infection that lasts for months rather than weeks, or developing ‘bastard strangles’ where infection spreads beyond the horse’s respiratory system and can affect` major organs within the body.

Strangles also has a serious wider impact. Strict quarantine measures are needed to help prevent the spread of disease between horses and yards. Businesses such as riding schools or trekking centres can suffer serious loss of income, and owners cannot take their horses off-site. Here are some useful guidance documents to support isolation and quarantine measures:

• Isolation set up checklist (PDF 510 KB)
• Isolation guidelines (PDF 93 KB)
• Isolation area notice (PDF 62 KB)

Outbreaks are often expensive, exhausting and emotional to deal with, and strangles is a potentially fatal disease for infected horses, so prevention is always better than cure. Here is a small self-care support document that you can use during a strangles outbreak:

• Strangles self-care guide (PDF 892 KB)

Can horses be vaccinated against strangles?

Strangles vaccines are available and can help reduce the chance of a horse becoming infected or reduce the severity of symptoms they experience. Vaccination should not be seen as a replacement for other biosecurity measures, they will work best alongside other steps that also help protect horses from the spread of disease.

Vets are the best source of advice on current vaccination products and which options may be most suitable for individual horses or circumstances. Your vet can also guide you on how make the most of good biosecurity habits that can make a real difference to reducing strangles risk.