Pigeon Fever/Dryland Distemper (Worse in CA this year?)

[Mukluk]

My horse has a swelling on his belly. At first I didn’t think much of it but ended up calling the vet as it seemed to be getting worse. She thinks it might be Pigeon Fever/Dryland Distemper. She pulled some blood so I should hear results in a few days. Anyway just wondering if people can weigh in on their experiences with this. Also here is a link to an article about the disease. Unfortunately there is no vaccine for it. Anyone hear of a connection between having goats on property and Pigeon Fever/Dryland Distemper?

https://www2.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/ceh/local_resources/pdfs/HorseReport-Winter2014.pdf

[MidlifeCrisis]

My horse had it in 2015. A very mild case. Single small abscess in the chest that was lanced and drained. 2013 was a bad year for it in the East Bay. Horses would have multiple abscesses and they were big too. Scary big. Things that you could put your whole fist into. 2 horses (out of 20) in our barn has internal abscesses requiring treatment at Davis. All the horses in my barn were titered and we were set to give the vaccine based on those titers and then the vaccine was pulled off the market. Since 2013, I haven’t heard of any cases in our area. My horse that got the mild case is a retiree in the Central Valley. I would assume that any place that has flies is a candidate to have PF.

[Mukluk]

The vet recommended putting ichthammol over the swelling. This has been a bad year for flies around here. In a way I am relieved, because I had read on the internet that a belly abcess can be a sign of heart failure. Vet did not note any heart problems. Temp is normal and he is eating/drinking normally. Just wish I could wave my magic wand and make it go away.

[MysticOakRanch]

I live in cattle country, flies are horrible. We see Pigeon fever cycle through about every 5 to 7 years. It seems very localized, even within my county. But it does seem, when it is bad, it is REALLY bad for a lot of people in the immediate area.

I’ve had several over the years with belly abcesses, and none had heart issues. I had one (probably 15 years ago!) that had internal PF - she didn’t have any external abcesses at all. Super expensive treatment, 6 months of Rifampin and other broad spectrum antibiotic, but she survived with no long term issues. A friend of mine had a horse get an abcess on his HEAD, just above his eye. That was kind of scary - we thought he had a tumor! But most common area is the mid-line - chest through groin…

A drawing agent (such as ichthammol) can help draw out the pus, but it also gets really messy, and I don’t find it really helps that much. Warm compresses are more effective (if you have time), and seem to help relieve the pain if there is any. I use to go out with a bucket of super hot water and compress for 30 minutes every day. It is just a nasty bacteria with no cure, no current vaccine, and lots of inconclusive research:confused:

[Mukluk]

Mystic Oak Ranch. Do you actually hold the warm compress on for 30 minutes or do you attach it to the horse some way? I wonder if it would help to use a salonpas patch to provide heat?

[MysticOakRanch]

@Mukluk

Mystic Oak Ranch. Do you actually hold the warm compress on for 30 minutes or do you attach it to the horse some way? I wonder if it would help to use a salonpas patch to provide heat?

I would hold it on - when it cooled, back to hot water to reheat it. Salonpas might be worth a try - it didn’t exist the last time I dealt with PF… Heat is the ultimate drawing agent!

[Watermark_Farm]

I have dealt with it several times at my farm in N. CA, including internal pigeon fever. First, it’s not the end of the world most of the time.

Prevention: Most important is to protect midline fly sores with SWAT or such, as I suspect this is a common entry point.

Causes: Bacteria can stick around for years; I’m told properties that previously had cattle or previous horse cases may be more prone, not sure if that is true. It may hang out in soil. It’s cyclical – some years worse than others.

Treatment: Tincture of time and basic support. Most horses weather it well enough. Most need some TLC and babying as they won’t feel well. It can take weeks to run its course, or you can notice a swelling one day and the next it’s draining. For the abscess, hot packing can help. After obsessing over a few horses I simply stopped hot packing and let nature take its course.

Development/maturing/rupture of abscess: The abscess has a fat wall around it, the body’s way of isolating the bacteria. It can take time for this to develop. As it does, you’ll feel that fat wall get more and more hard and defined, and as the abscess matures the skin in the middle will thin out and the center will soften. When it has the consistency of a water balloon when you tap it (jiggly and soft), and the skin in center is very thin, it’s close to rupturing. Many rupture on their own. After a while I dispensed with calling the vet and got good at lancing them. The horse usually feels better immediately after rupture, unless he has others brewing.

Aftercare: Cleaning, hosing, keeping open wound draining and clean, SWAT, general supportive care. My vet had me flush the wound with a dilute nolvasan solution. Watch the horse for signs he is feeling bad again, running fever, off feed – can be a sign of internal pigeon fever, which is very serious.

Isolation: Many places isolate. I couldn’t do it easily, so didn’t. I had a small gelding herd and kept them together. I figured I can’t control the flies and I suspect main risk is from bacteria in the soil – infection happens long before they show signs of sickness. One compromised gelding and one old gelding got it; the other horses were fine.

Hope that helps. I’m not a vet and this is not medical advice, just info from someone who has dealt with PF ranging from mild (you barely notice) to deadly (internal form). Again, most horses do OK with it. Old or compromised ones have the hardest time. Be PATIENT, provide supportive care, work with a vet who has experience with PF (doesn’t get too excited, yet knows symptoms and treatment for internal PF), and ride it out.

[MysticOakRanch]

@Watermark Farm

Isolation: Many places isolate. I couldn’t do it easily, so didn’t. I had a small gelding herd and kept them together. I figured I can’t control the flies and I suspect main risk is from bacteria in the soil – infection happens long before they show signs of sickness. One compromised gelding and one old gelding got it; the other horses were fine.

.

This is interesting, because most vets do recommend isolation, and I found the same thing you did. Whether you isolate or not, some get it, others don’t. My vets kept their horses here for a while - all were in a pasture together. They didn’t isolate - one horse had it for MONTHS, and the others in the pasture never got it.

I also had a year where one of my youngsters got it (yearlings). I was NOT willing to isolate a yearling, so left her out in the herd, and no one else got it.

One of the research vets in California went so far as to collect pus from infected horses and cut and insert it into healthy horses -most of whom remained HEALTHY!?!?! So that research kind of confirms our limited experience, it is not passed horse to horse. Most likely passed through the soil, to flies, AND possible an immune system issue with the horses who do get it. I don’t know, but when I have a herd of horses getting bit by the same flies, in the same pasture, together, it makes me believe there is some kind of individual immunity thing going on as well.

It is a very puzzling bacteria - and it only affects a small population of horses (those in the dry lands of the West/SouthWest), which makes it financially not of great interest to the drug companies who would finance research…

[Myout]

I’ve had the same experience in both Socal and Norcal, no isolation possible and some horses got it and others didn’t, no rhyme or reason that I could figure and boy did I try to figure! I agree with the soil as reservoir possibility and flies as transmission possibly…Socal had a ton of flies and Norcal locations almost none so not 100% sure on transmission there. I watched folks throw everything at the horse they could and others do nothing and came to the conclusion that those out moving, pasture or big paddocks, did better than those stalled…by a long shot. One of mine got it in Norcal after almost 15 yrs of not getting in Socal, but by then he was having health difficulties which we never could identify. So immune strength IS probably a big factor.

[Mukluk]

Thanks for the input every one. Despite abcesses he seems to be feeling OK. Today squealed and wanted to play w/ his girlfriend. He has a fairly large turnout and I am not isolating him. Only other horse is my mare (his girlfriend). She’s the boss.

[Stretchy]

I’ve had 3 with Pigeon Fever and all 3 went internal (2 in 2013 and 1 on 2016). The 2 in 2013 had external abscesses that then went internal. The 2016 case was NQR for a month and was diagnosed with internal without any external signs.

There IS a vaccine out and the 2 horses on our property who have not had PF are vaccinated. I pulled titers before and after vaccinating one of them and the titer came up. Our vet does not recommend vaccinating unless there have been active cases on the property as there are minor reactions (sore neck, fever, hives, rarely mild colic).

I did not isolate any of the horses though I was super careful about walking where there might be puss on the ground - bleached my boots when coming out of the stalls and bleached the stall and paddock after it cleared up.

I found ichthamol to be awful to work with. Warm towels did the trick. Most abscesses opened on their own but one big one in the groin had to be lanced - LOTS of puss poured out into a garbage bag - yuk!

[Mukluk]

I wear nitrile gloves to apply the ichthamol so it isn’t a problem. Per the blood test the boy is positive for dryland distemper (not much of a surprise there). Recommending isolation so he is staying in his stall/paddock. His girlfriend too as he will have a fit if she is out in the turn out area and he is confined.