A risk of puppy strangles

A friend and I often walk and work our dogs together. At the moment he has a puppy at home that his vet is treating for ‘puppy strangles’. I know that in horses strangles can be quite infectious, so should we keep our dogs apart?

This is a somewhat uncommon but potentially severe condition variously referred to as puppy strangles, puppy cellulitis, juvenile cellulitis, and probably more correctly termed juvenile dermatopathic lymphadenitis. It is a disease of young dogs occurring most often in puppies aged less than four months, but in more unusual cases has been seen in older juvenile dogs less than a year old.

Puppy strangles is characterised by pustules on the face as well as painful swelling of the lips, eyelids and face. These can become so severe that the inflammation reaches the neck’s lymph nodes. There may also be swellings in the groin area, where the lymph glands are located. Affected neck lymph nodes can become abscessed, break open, and drain. Signs of puppy strangles can, however, go beyond the facial sores. About a quarter of puppies with this condition can develop a fever or joint swelling, become lethargic, or stop eating. The cause is believed to be immune-related, arising from some dysfunction in the immune system because of the immediate, often dramatic, response to corticosteroid treatment. There is also likely to be some hereditary component because of the breed and familial predisposition that is often reported.

This disease is quite distinct from strangles in horses and is certainly not contagious like equine strangles. While there may be some secondary bacterial infection, particularly as lesions erupt and discharge (which will require antibiotic therapy), a primary cause due to viral or bacterial infection can be ruled out because microscopic examination of papulopustular lesions shows granulomatous inflammation with pus but no microorganisms present, and carefully performed cultures from these lesions are negative. So it should be quite safe to continue walking your dogs together. TB