It’s a long, long time since I personally looked after horses with strangles. For obvious reasons I don’t want to do it again and I don’t ever go looking for it or go anywhere near where it’s been.
The horse I was last asked to attend and help with was one of those situations that REALLY does get me VERY VERY angry. That turned out to have Purpura haemorrhagica as a consequence of strangles. Just 10 weeks before the owner had told me that “I was going a bit overboard suggesting a 3 week quarantine for a new horse coming in”.
However I have attended a couple of fabulous conferences on the subject matter and also was privileged to be consulted and in turn communicated with when there was the newly developed blood test for diagnosis and when there was a campaign over here to promote awareness and better practice re management. That must have been about 3 years ago now and at the time I posted on COTH to let folks know about it and as follows:
[I]I don’t know if you’re aware but in the UK we have no strangles vaccine.
The vaccine you use over there can’t be licenced here because it fails our more stringent standards of efficacy.
Hence we had a vaccine that was developed here and was in use for just 2 years but then had to be withdrawn when it dropped its efficacy (though still above the standard of the US vaccine).
Since then there’s been research by the Animal Health Trust into the disease and in particular to develop and test a fully effective vaccine against Strangles.
As a consequential result they’ve developed a new diagnostic blood test. This is a total breakthrough as it not only identifies horses that have the disease but also those who have recently been exposed to it and hence it enables it to be much better managed.
For those who want to know more, you might be interested in some these and in a campaign with which I’ve been involved :
http://www.aht.org.uk/bact_blood.html
http://www.strangles.org/[/I]
Nursing care is best for those with a strong stomach. When I last had to look after horses with strangles it wasn’t good. I well remember the stench and pus that made me gag! Then the constant cleaning and washing - not just of the horse where pus and snot was dribbling down but also floors and stabling and me and my clothes.
Virkon is your friend.
But, as with any serious illness or injury you’ve just to steal yourself to do what’s right and for the best. Good nursing care is never ever easy and particularly when you’ve having to take bio-security measures.
Virkon is your friend.
I don’t know if the OP has a single horse or is at a yard but if so, then the vital thing after the acute need to nurse and manage affected horses is to contain the disease and to do your utmost to eradicate it as quickly as possible.
Virkon is your friend.
I tend to be VERY aware, VERY well informed and reasonably knowledgeable on things relating to bio-security, clean nursing and immunity. Having had leukaemia and a bone marrow transplant and long periods of being neutropenic, immuno-surpressed or immuno-compromised does give some advantages and huge motivation to get it right! 
From time to time I “lock down” because of strangles in the locality.
Much more seriously than strangles though I had strict and similar measures in place here and for nearly 2 years because of foot and mouth disease and everyone on the farm had to take particular precaution.
Here they also designated “clean farriers” and “dirty vets” . That meant that some farriers NEVER went on to farms where there were cattle and sheep and hence if if you were clear and surrounded by it, you could get them to come to your horses to keep the risk down - its what I did. Likewise designated “dirty vets” worked with stock where there were outbreaks or where there were contiguous culls and they NEVER went anywhere near an unaffected farm.
Its a nightmare to manage - time consuming and costly but totally essential in such circumstances. You can’t be too careful.
I went through thousands of gallons of disenfectant - wheel washes, foot washes, hand washes etc etc etc. Countless surgical paper overalls and rubber gloves.
Fortunately I wasn’t affected, though the county was absolutely rife. Indeed only 7 farms in the area got away with not having all cattle and sheep culled.
I NEVER want to go through that experience again though! So I err on the side of caution when it comes to such things.
I’d suggest that the OP needs to ensure that the pus is drained and the drainage is kept free. If that means getting the vet out to open up then do it. But hot pad compresses are very helpful. Remember also if the horse is still snotty from the nose that needs cleaning up with disposables and destroying too.
When you go to the horse make sure you’re clean. The advice is to wash all clothing after you’ve been to a horse with strangles. I’d suggest that it’s even better if you buy yourselves some disposable boiler suits and put them on and then just burn them afterwards. Rubber gloves that are disposable are also essential. Make sure that anything that has the puss and muck on is burnt. Spread out disposable paper on work surfaces or floor and put pads and such on that or else directly into bin bags. I’d suggest if you find nursing the horse too stomach churning that you do the cleaning and disposal that’s required because of the pus and stuff.
If there’s other horses then ideal is to have a dedicated person do it. Or else, if that’s not practical, then do the affected one last and after you’ve attended all other horses. Make sure the affected one is situated at the end so you’ve not going past it and to others. Once you’ve seen to it, go get washed and changed and clothes laundered before going near a horse again - including before going back to that one.
Remember Virkon is your friend. :winkgrin:
p.s. you might be best advised that it’s preferable to concentrate on developing a strong stomach and getting those abscesses drained and pus cleaned out and cleaned up rather than reading and finding out about Purpura haemorrhagica
p.p.s…
Packed that up now… trying to pare back in readiness for retirement.
