Equine strangles: An update on disease control and prevention

Abstract

Streptococcus equi spp. equi (SEE) causes a disease in horses commonly referred to as strangles. Carrier or reservoir equids are important for the maintenance of the bacteria between epizootics and the initiation of outbreaks on premises, they also make the control and prevention of the disease more difficult. Disease outbreaks are common in many countries, affecting negatively equine health and causing major economic losses to the equine industry. This review describes general aspects of the disease caused by SEE in horses (clinical signs, pathogenesis, epidemiology, treatment, complications) and then focuses on prevention, control and eradication mechanisms.

An Outbreak of Strangles in Arabian Horses in Saudi Arabia: Epidemiology, Clinical Signs and Treatment Outcomes

“…Strangles is considered as one of the most common bacterial disease in many countries. Epidemiologically, the disease is characterized by high morbidity and low mortality, resulting in great economic losses due to the expense of treatment, in addition to the restriction of horse movement (Islam et al 2014;Boyle et al 2018;Robinson et al 2020;Duran and Goehring 2021). In the present outbreak, the morbidity rate among horses was 44.82%, mortality rate was 17.24% and the case fatality rate was 38.46%.…”

“…Similar observations were recorded previously by Manzoor et al (2008) and Khoo et al (2011). This may be attributed to the previous exposure of the adults to infection compared to the highly susceptible young horses (Boyle et al 2018;Duran and Goehring 2021). Taylor and Wilson (2006) and Ijaz et al (2012) mentioned that the disease was typically affected horses of all ages, but yearlings were mostly showed severe clinical signs.…”

“…Other precautions were applied to minimize disease spread or environmental contamination in the form of hygienic disposal of the discharged pus, disinfection of the farm and equipment, avoiding contact between healthy and infected horses by isolation of healthy ones in a separate stable and preventing overcrowding at common water sources (Sweeney et al 2005;Firew and Pal 2015;Duran and Goehring 2021). These control measures were found effective in decreasing the spread of the infection to other horses.…”

“…The disease is endemic throughout the world causing considerable welfare and economic cost to the global horse industry (Robinson et al 2018(Robinson et al , 2020Cohen et al 2020). Equines can serve as carriers or reservoirs, therefore, are important for the maintenance of the bacteria between epizootics, making the control and prevention of the disease more difficult (Duran and Goehring 2021).…”

The hygienic aspects in the management of strangles

“…Even though strangles holds a relatively low mortality rate, the morbidity rate is high. The disease is a major challenge worldwide due to its contagious nature, the risk of quarantine and the associated substantial economic impact on the equine industry (Boyle et al, 2018; Duran & Goehring, 2021; Sweeney et al, 1989).…”