Second Horse At Thistledown Returns Suspect Test For Strangles; One Barn Remains Quarantined

On May 10, the Ohio State Racing Commission revealed that a single case of strangles had been confirmed on the backstretch of Thistledown Racing in North Randall. Three barns were placed under quarantine, and no horses were allowed on or off the grounds at that time.

The OSRC released the following update on the case to the Paulick Report May 13:

From over 250 swabs from the three quarantined barns, there was one swab that returned a suspect test for Strep equi. That horse was located in the same stable as the first confirmed positive. The horse with the suspect test for Strep Equi was removed from the grounds and placed into isolation on the same farm as the first horse.

The barn that had the horse with the suspect remains in quarantine. The other two barns at Thistledown have been released from quarantine.

Horses are allowed to ship into Thistledown, however, once on the grounds they are not allowed to leave until the horses who are stabled in the affected barn at Thistledown complete the second swab in approximately two weeks.

Strangles is a highly contagious respiratory bacterial disease which is characterized by swelling in a horse's lymph nodes around the horse's head and jaws. The swollen lymph nodes will sometimes abscess, and the abscesses may rupture and drain through the skin or into the guttural pouch, which may cause additional infection and complications.

In addition to this characteristic swelling, symptoms of strangles may also include fever, lethargy, loss of appetite and nasal discharge. The lymph node swelling tends to appear several days after the first signs of fever.

Strangles can be passed between horses through nose-to-nose contact but also inanimate objects that are shared between horses.

Most horses recover well from strangles but young horses or those with compromised immune systems can be especially vulnerable.