USDA-NAHSS Web Page Updated for Latest Disease Outbreaks The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Animal Health Surveillance System (NAHSS) is a network of many Federal and State government agencies integrated into a comprehensive and coordinated system of animal health monitoring and surveillance. The overall goal of the system is to collect, collate, and analyze animal health information and to promptly distribute this information. The program is intended to improve the protection of the national animal health and to increase the efficiency of existing animal health surveillance programs.The NAHSS website contains information on all the major livestock groups, including an Equine Health Monitoring & Surveillance section. Two new web pages have been recently added to this section which can be found at http://www.aphis.usdagov/vs/nahss/equine/.The first new web page is on Equine Herpes Virus. An outbreak of neurologic Equine Herpes Virus type 1 (EHV-1) occurred in late 2006 and involved a group of 15 horses shipped from Germany that were subsequently shipped to eight states. There was a significant impact on the horse industry because of this outbreak, especially in Florida. The new website gives details and current information on this outbreak, as well as further information on the disease, and links to state websites with EHV-1 information.The second of the new pages is on Equine Viral Arteritis (EVA). An outbreak of EVA occurred in Quarter Horses in 2006, with the virus confirmed on premises within six states (Kansas, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, and Alabama). This outbreak had a devastating impact on the Quarter Horse breeding industry. The new web page gives detailed information on this EVA outbreak, along with background information on the disease and on its management and control.Along with the new pages on EVA and EHV-1, you can find information on Vesicular Stomatitis, Equine Infectious Anemia, Eastern and Western Equine Encephalitis, West Nile Virus and more. The NAHSS Equine Health Monitoring & Surveillance website is an important and useful website to learn about current equine health and disease information.
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While most horse owners know that Strangles is a highly contagious disease, many do not know enough about how to recognize, treat, manage and prevent the disease.And unfortunately Strangles is prevalent in the Midwest right now.The following is some of the latest information available but please recognize that your vet is the best source of information for you and your horse.
There is much information available on the web but there is also a lot of outdated information or conflicting information.The American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) website, www.myhorsematters.com provides some of the most up-to-date, comprehensive and easy to use information available.The article below is printed with permission of the AAEP and is from their website:
Strangles: What to KnowWritten by: Corinne Sweeney, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM
The first reported case of strangles in a horse was in the year 1251, and it has continued to worry horse owners since that time. Your veterinarian has a wealth of knowledge about strangles infections in horses. This article will expose you to the basic facts about strangles so you can be a partner with your veterinarian as you work to treat, control, and prevent the disease. What causes this highly contagious disease, and what should I expect to see? Streptococcus equi (commonly known as S. equi) bacteria gain access to your horse either through the nose or mouth. They then invade lymph nodes in the head and throat. What follows is a purulent (pus-like) nasal discharge and abscess formation in the lymph nodes. Other signs that might develop include fever, loss of appetite, and listlessness. The name strangles was coined because affected horses sometimes (but rarely) were suffocated by enlarged lymph nodes that blocked their airways. The lymph node abscesses make the nodes swollen and painful. With time, serum might ooze from the overlying skin, as the lymph node abscesses mature before rupturing to drain their creamy pus. Other lymph nodes in the head and throat can be involved, but they are not apparent as many of them drain into thenasal cavity. How is my horse exposed to strangles? Most horses that develop strangles got it from the infected nasal discharges of a horse with an active case of strangles or one that has recently recovered from it. Direct transmission occurs when horses, being very social, have nose-to-nose contact. Indirect transmission occurs when a susceptible horse shares feed or water buckets with an infected horse.Owners need to recognize that about 20% of horses continue to shed S. equi in their nasal secretions for several weeks after they have recovered. View all recovered horses as potential sources of infection for at least six weeks after the clinical signs of strangles have resolved. An extremely small percent (maybe 1-10%) of horses continue to shed S. equi in their nasal secretions for a prolonged period of time, anywhere from months to years. These horses frequently have guttural pouch infections caused by S. equi. What about fields and barns? S. equi isn’t a hardy organism; it doesn’t persist well in the environment. While it’s possible to contract strangles from an infected horse’s pasture, it’s very unlikely. How will my veterinarian know if my horse has strangles? Most often, your veterinarian will diagnose strangles based on the classic clinical signs. To confirm infection, the “gold standard” is still a bacteriologic culture from either nasal swabs or pus from the abscesses. Another test is a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, which detects the DNA of S. equi. While the test is excellent, it does not distinguish between dead and live organisms. What do I do if there is a strangles outbreak? Owners are the key to successfully controlling an outbreak of strangles. First, discuss the situation with your veterinarian. With his/her help, you can identify affected groups of horses, look at the geography of the premises, and review management practices. Together you will develop a practical disease control strategy customized for your particular circumstances. Several specific aims of the plan will be to: 1) Prevent the spread of S. equi to horses on other premises and to new arrivals on infected premises. This is done by stopping all movement of horses on and off theaffected premises until further notice. Then, horses with strangles and other horses exposed to them should be kept in well-demarcated “dirty” quarantine areas. Clustering the cases in groups should allow parts of the premises to be allocated as “dirty” and other parts as “clean.” 2) Establish when recovered horses are no longer infectious. Your veterinarian will start a program of culturing nasal swabs over several weeks, and horses that are consistently negative will be returned to the “clean” area. 3) Investigate long-term carriers. If a horse sheds S. equi longer than expected, your veterinarian will recommend an endoscopic examination of the guttural pouches and treatment, if needed. 4) Prevent infection spreading from the “dirty” areas to the “clean” areas of the premise. Ideally, separate groups of farm workers will deal with the two groups of horses. If this is not possible, the horses in the clean area should be attended to before working with the horses in the dirty area. Your veterinarian will also be able to describe methods of disinfecting facilities. In conclusion, the key to a successful control for strangles is developing a plan with your veterinarian, adhering to that plan, and not panicking. Some other suggestions and tips compiled from local vets, K-State, Mizzou and other educated sources: ·Be aware of what is ‘normal’ for your horse so that you can recognize early symptoms – fever, loss of appetite and listlessness: oA horse’s normal temperature can vary between 99 to 101 degrees.If you don’t know what is normal for your horse, find out.Take your horse’s temperature at the same time every day for at least a week.This will give you a baseline for what is normal for your horse. oKnow your horse’s eating, sleeping, playing, drinking and output habits.Note deviations, take their temperature and monitor closely.Consult your vet should any deviations last more than 24 hours. oTake your horse’s temperature before, during and after a show, clinic or other stressful outing.If your horse has an elevated temperature, consult your vet for a recommendation. ·Be cautious when you travel to other facilities.If you will utilize a stall at another facility, personally sanitize the stall.This includes all surfaces as well as the floor.Remove any old shavings.Travel with bleach or Pine Sol in a spray bottle.Spray down all surfaces and wait at least 20 minutes before letting your horse in the stall.Sanitize any areas outside the stall that your horse may come in contact with. ·Ask the facility if they have had any Strangles or other illnesses in the past 90 days.Hopefully all facilities with even a single infected horse have already self-quarantined until their vet concurs that the facility is not a risk to others. ·Do not let horses share common water sources, feeders, etc. ·Do not touch a horse without first washing your hands or using a hand sanitizer.Petting that cute blaze on Spot and then scratching Buster under the chin can spread the disease but it is so natural for horse lovers to do. ·Ask your barn management what is their plan for managing Strangles or any other infection.Any barn with horses in and out on a regular basis should be considered at risk.Your barn should have a plan ready to be quickly implemented. ·Follow the plan outlined by your barn management.This is critical to the success of the plan. ·Don’t panic.You can do every thing ‘right’ and still be exposed to Strangles – that’s why it has been around for over 750 years.The vast majority of horses do come through the disease without complications. ·If your horse develops Strangles, don’t rush your horse back to work.Being a systemic illness, Strangles can take a lot out of your horse.Alsoyour horse can relapse.Discuss with your vet to get his/her specific recommendations before starting your horse back to work. Knowledge is the greatest tool in the management and prevention of Strangles.Don’t hesitate to ask questions, consult with your vet, your barn management or friends.Your horse will appreciate it!
AHC Publishes White Paper Outlining Zoonotic Diseases of Horses The American Horse Council has released a white paper entitled the “NAIS and Horses: Why Horses Should be Included.” The paper has been written in answer to a common question regarding why horses should be included in the National Animal Identification System since “horses don’t carry diseases that affect other livestock or that affect humans.” Most people don’t realize that horses do in fact contract diseases that can also be found in other livestock and, in some cases, in humans. The AHC paper lists and explains several of those diseases. The paper also describes some of the diseases that are experienced both by humans and horses, although in most cases, horses do not play a role in spreading these diseases to humans. West Nile Virus and Eastern Equine Encephalomyelitis are examples. However, there are some infectious diseases that horses can contract that they can pass on or transmit to humans. Examples of such zoonotic diseases include Rabies, Salmonella, Ringworm, Leptospirosis, Brucellosis, and Anthrax. The list provided by the AHC is not fully inclusive of all diseases that may be common to horses and humans or that can be passed between horses to humans. Clearly, some equine diseases do have public health concerns and a severe outbreak of any of the diseases listed would have a substantial veterinary and economic impact. A quick response to such an outbreak will be critical to keeping the horse industry operating. It is for this reason that the horse industry is included in the National Animal Identification System.The full white paper is available at www.horsecouncil.org.