Clinical signs of Strangles

  • Fever (body temperature >38.5 oC)
  • Nasal discharge
  • Soft moist cough
  • Depression
  • Inappetence
  • Abscesses in the lymph nodes of the head and neck (and other body sites in rare cases)
  • Up to 100% morbidity and 10% mortality (if high infectious dose)

Pathogenesis: strep. Equi infection pathway

Watch the video to see how horses become infected with Strep. equi and how the bacterium behaves once inside the horse’s body.

Carriers: the secret of strep. Equi for persisting in populations

  • All horses have two guttural pouches, which are extensions of the middle ear
  • Streptococcus equi enters the guttural pouch during disease and can persist here in around 10% of recovered ‘carrier’ horses.
  • Carriers look healthy, but can spread strangles to other horses