Horse owners are being asked to complete a survey about strangles, which is one of the most common equine infectious disease affecting horse health around the world, in an effort to understand their thoughts on the illness and the preventative measures available.
The survey is being carried out by Dechra, an international specialist veterinary pharmaceuticals and related products business who are one of the collaborators behind Strangles Awareness Week (Monday 5 – Sunday 11 May).
It is hoped that the survey, which is approximately three minutes long, will help raise awareness and promote best practices to stop the spread of strangles.
Participants can also choose to enter a prize draw to win a pair of VIP tickets to Your Horse Live 2025.
Vaccine available
Strangles is an extremely contagious disease in horses that affects their upper respiratory tract. It is caused by a bacterium called Streptococcus equi.
Any horse can get strangles, whatever their age, breed, health or value, and it is a horrible disease. However, there is now a new safe and effective strangles vaccine that is easy to administer into the muscle, just like many other horse vaccines.
As well as curtailing riding activities and the movement of horses, strangles can lead to serious economic loss for yard owners and horse owners, as yard are shut down for long periods.
For affected horses, strangles can cause suffering and in the most severe cases the complications can be life changing.
In rare cases, horses can die.
Take the survey
“The strangles survey will provide us with a valuable insight into horse owners’ experiences of the disease and will enable us to identify any trends that may exist to help us support owners who wish to put in place preventative measures to help prevent strangles,” said Rachel Harrison-Osborne, veterinary surgeon and equine field support manager at Dechra.
Main image © Redwings Horse Sanctuary.
