STRANGLES VACCINE
There are two types of strangles vaccines available: intramuscular (IM) injection, which is given like a traditional vaccine, and intranasal, which is misted up the nasal passage and provides mucosal protection, as well. It’s important to remember that vaccine administration does not mean the horse will not get sick; it simply means that the horse will have less-severe disease presentation.
“I do not recommend that every horse get the strangles vaccine,” said Ashley Boyle, DVM, DACVIM, associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine New Bolton Center. The vaccine is really only needed by competition or trail horses that are regularly exposed to unfamiliar horses or for horses that live with horses that regularly travel, she notes.
Horses that have been exposed to a strangles outbreak should wait at least one year before they’re vaccinated with either the intranasal or intramuscular vaccine. Some horse’s immune systems can be overstimulated by the vaccine and the animal might develop purpura, says Boyle.
Purpura hemorrhagica is swelling of the blood vessels in the head, neck and abdomen. Most cases are mild and are treated with antibiotics and corticosteroids.
It’s important that horse owners understand that vaccination alone is not eective, says Katie Flynn, BVMS, Senior Sta Veterinarian-Equine Health & Biosecurity for the U.S. Equestrian Federation. “Vaccination may be an eective method of disease control in individual [horses] and herds when used in conjunction with a biosecurity plan.”