Strangles is one of the most frequently diagnosed infectious disease of horses (typically between 5 and 100 times more outbreaks than of equine influenza)

  • Approximately 300 outbreaks per year are reported in the UK SES
  • Approximately 100 outbreaks per year are reported in Sweden. SES

Some large outbreaks can affect hundreds of horses and have a high economical and welfare impact.

Only Iceland remains free of strangles

The horse and strep. Equi are both globetrotters

Horses travel around the world to attend equine events or sales, which also bears the risk of transmission of infectious diseases worldwide. Recently, a global platform for genomic surveillance of S. equi was created and 670 isolates from 19 countries were examined. This unique project highlighted numerous examples of the transmission of S. equi around the world and the importance of biosecurity, diagnostic testing and vaccination for the prevention of disease transmission. The study identified 6 broad types of S. equi (BAPS-types), with emergence and dominance of BAPS2 in Europe4.

Kvarka karta

Argentina, Outbreak 1

UK, Outbreak 152

UAE, Outbreak 2

The same variant of S. equi was recovered from polo ponies in Argentina, the United Arab Emirates and the UK, highlighting one example of the international transmission of S. equi.