Hoosier Park Horses Banned
The Kentucky state veterinarian has banned horses kept at Hoosier Park racetrack (Anderson, Illinois) from barn areas of any Kentucky racing facility because of concerns about strangles. Two Hoosier Park horses were diagnosed with this highly infectious disease caused by the bacterium Streptococcus equi, and 57 horses have been quarantined. Horses from Hoosier Park that have been isolated and monitored for 21 days may enter Kentucky facilities.
The idea behind the 21 day quarantine is that within 21 days, most horses that have been exposed to strangles will develop signs of disease within that time period. However, the problem is that horses that have been infected with strangles can get over the infection and look great for 21 days (or much, much longer) but still carry S. equi in their throats or guttural pouches. So, while this is a reasonable approach, it by no means guarantees that S. equi will be kept out of Kentucky. However, in reality there are never any guarantees when it comes to infectious diseases like this. While some cases of strangles get a lot of attention, it's an endemic disease that is circulating in the horse population, and certainly is present in some horses in Kentucky already. Responding to outbreaks and limiting the risk of outbreak-associated transmission is very important, but it's equally important to make sure that routine infection control practices are in place on tracks (and elsewhere) to reduce the risk of disease transmission every day.
More information about strangles can be found on the equIDblog Resources page.
