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Published Date: 2005-04-02 23:50:00
Subject: PRO/AH/EDR> Strangles, equine - USA (multistate)
Archive Number: 20050402.0950

STANGLES, EQUINE - USA (MULTISTATE)
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[1]
Date: 1 Apr 2005
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
Source: Tampa Bay Downs [edited]
<http://news.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=27439>

Strangles Strikes 3 Tampa Bay Horses
-----------------------------------
Test results confirmed late Friday afternoon that 3 horses have tested
positive for strangles at Tampa Bay Downs. The affected barn has been
placed under quarantine and the infected horses have been isolated to a
separate area.
"Strangles is a bacterial infection that typically results in fever, nasal
discharge and swelling of the lymph nodes. However in these cases the
horses did not present the classic signs," said practicing veterinarian Dr.
William Owens. "The horses had an ongoing fever that prompted me to test
for the infection."
The barn will remain under quarantine until a PCR test and culture returns
negative from every horse in the barn. The 3 infected horses will be
required 3 negative tests until they are allowed back into the general
population.
The quarantined barn will have limited admittance, and the horses stabled
in the barn will only be allowed restricted access to the track to train
from 9:30 a.m. until 10:15 a.m.
All horses from the affected barn entered for the weekend's card have been
scratched, and Tampa Bay Downs will not be accepting entries from those
barns until those horses have a negative PCR Test and culture.
"We will to continue to enforce the current guidelines that we just
improvised and with these additional precautions we hope to contain the
situation," said Peter Berube, vice president and general manager "We
expect to have the test results early next week and we will reevaluate the
situation then."
Tampa management will be meeting with horsemen at 8:30 a.m. in the
horseman's kitchen to apprise them of the developing situation.
Revised guidelines for entering horses from off Tampa's grounds were issued
1 Apr 2005 and will remain in effect until further notice. Under the
guidelines, no entries will be accepted from Gulfstream Park, Palm Meadows
Training Center, Calder Race Course, Payson Park or Palm Beach Downs and
Race Track Training Center. Horses shipping to race at Calder or Gulfstream
will be allowed to return to the Tampa Bay stable area. An exception is
made for Florida Cup nominees provided they obtain a negative PCR taken
after April 2.
Entries will be accepted from all other jurisdictions, although all
shippers will be required to have a health certificate dated within 36
hours of arrival. Other restrictions apply.
--
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[2]
Date: 1 Apr 2005
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
Source: The AP Press [edited]

More infected horses discovered but tracks says cases are isolated
------------------------------------------------
A round of tests has uncovered more cases of a bacterial infection that has
led to quarantine of 2 barns at Churchill Downs' Trackside training center,
the track said Thursday.
A statement from Churchill Downs said the cases of the strangles -- a
sometimes fatal disease -- have been confined to 2 training center barns.
The track said a total of 49 horses, including 43 thoroughbreds, have
undergone blood testing and a pharyngeal throat wash. Of those, 19 have
tested positive for a possible infection, and tests on 6 horses were not
conclusive, Churchill Downs said. The infection can cause lymph nodes to
swell and rupture, causing breathing problems.
State Veterinarian David Stout said the initial case of strangles was
identified early. He said measures to contain the disease have so far been
effective.
Since the Trackside case was confirmed, Churchill Downs and Turfway Park,
the only Kentucky thoroughbred tracks with winter racing, have tightened
health checks on all horses shipping onto their grounds.
--
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[3]
Date 1 Apr 2005
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
Source: TheLouisvilleChannel.com. 15 Mar 2005
<http://www.thelouisvillechannel.com/sports/4287763/detail.html>

Horses At Churchill Training Facility Quarantined
Potentially Fatal Illness Confirmed In At Least One Horse
----------------------------------------------
With less than 2 months to go before the Kentucky Derby, there's new
concern about a potentially fatal horse illness at one of Churchill Downs'
facilities.
One case of the contagious bacterial infection known as strangles was
confirmed at the Trackside Training Center, WLKY NewsChannel 32's Andy
Alcock reported Tuesday. Several dozen horses have been tested for the
infection, and with results pending, 2 barns at trackside are getting
special attention.
The sign outside Dale Roman's barn shows the state's Agriculture Department
has quarantined his horses. The same quarantine exists at Blackie Huffman's
barn. Veterinarians already confirmed 1 horse has the potentially fatal
illness, and now, Roman's assistant trainer, Baldemar Bahena, is trying to
make sure none of the other horses get it.
"It's pretty serious," Bahena said. "We try to make them clean, and make
sure if some horses got it, we don't want the other ones to get it. We use
gloves. I told the grooms make sure they don't spread it [through] gloves."
Horsemen at trackside are taking other precautions to protect their
expensive investments, Alcock reported. Horses outside the quarantined
barns are able to train together as the quarantined horses train separately.
"We've taken several precautionary measures to prohibit the spread and to
contain the disease to those barns," Churchill Downs spokesman John Asher
said. "And state agriculture officials feel those precautions have been
effective to this point."
The confirmed strangles case comes when horses from all over the country
will soon be pouring into Churchill. Friday, the backside will be open for
trainers to starting getting their thoroughbreds ready for the upcoming
spring meet.
"It's a point of concern, but not a point for panic for horsemen," Asher
said. "They should be aware of it as they're shipping in, but we're taking
precautions."
Added Bahena: "We will work together. I'm sure we're going to stop this.
We're going to get everything clear."
--
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[4]
Date: 1 Apr 2005
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
Source: Thoroughbred Times [edited]
<http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/todaysnews/newsview.asp?recno=53476&subsec=1>

Churchill reports 19 possible strangles infections
-----------------------------------------------
A total of 19 horses at Trackside Louisville training center have tested
positive for possible infections of strangles, a highly contagious acute
bacterial respiratory disease.
Churchill Downs, which owns the facility, quarantined and ordered tests
last week for 43 horses stabled with trainers Dale Romans and Blackie
Huffman. An additional horse trained by Jim Baker was also tested as a
precautionary measure, along with 5 ponies. From the total of 49 horses, 19
tested positive for the disease, 24 tested negative, and tests on 6 others
were inconclusive.
Churchill spokesman John Asher said he did not know how many definitive
cases of strangles are included in the 19 possible infections.
"The original case, which was very much clinical with all the symptoms, is
included in that number," Asher said. "Other than that, I don't know how
many are definitive cases."
A 2nd round of tests was scheduled to be conducted on Thursday, with
results expected by the middle of next week.
"It's no surprise, given that a horse infected with strangles had been
identified in that population, that other horses in the population in the
quarantined barns have tested positive for the infection," said Kentucky
State Veterinarian Robert Stout. "The good news is that the initial case of
strangles was identified early and that measures to contain the ailment to
the quarantined barns appear to have been effective. The Kentucky
Department of Agriculture and Churchill Downs have worked very closely in
the effort to prevent the spread of this ailment and we will continue to
monitor the situation closely in the days to come."
One of the horses that returned inconclusive results was a pony stabled at
Churchill Downs. The pony and 2 others stabled in the same barn have been
moved from the grounds as a precautionary measure.
Horses that test positive a 2nd time for possible strangles infections will
be ordered off the Trackside Louisville grounds. Churchill would allow
those horses to be stabled at Ellis Park in Henderson, Kentucky, which
currently has no horses on its grounds.
Horses that return negative results from the 2nd round of tests will be
moved out of the quarantine area at Trackside Louisville. A 3rd round of
tests will be scheduled within 7 to 10 days.
--
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[5]
Date: 2 Apr 2005
From: <pablo11@hotPOP.com>
Source: The Cincinnati Post [edited]
<http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050401/SPT/504010320/1013/SPT>

As trainers prepare for the Kentucky Derby, most choose to ship their
horses to tracks in the Bluegrass State in mid-to-late April, either just
before or after key Derby prep races.
But with the Derby 5 weeks away, an outbreak of a highly contagious
bacterial infection -- which within the last month has been diagnosed in
horses at training facilities in Florida and Kentucky -- has caused some
horsemen to change their plans.
Known as strangles, the infection is most commonly found on farms and only
rarely at racetracks or training facilities. Infected horses usually have
a rapid onset of fever, followed by swelling and abscess formation in their
lymph nodes, which narrows the horse's airway passages. It is seldom fatal
but can sideline a horse for several weeks.
Keeneland Race Course, which opens its spring meet April 8, hosted a
meeting Thursday to discuss precautions officials are taking to prevent the
spread of the disease, though no cases have been reported at the track.
The most recent outbreak of strangles was at the Palm Meadows Training
Center in Boynton Beach, Fla. The center's general manager, Gary Van Den
Broek, said Thursday that 5 horses trained by Dale Romans were diagnosed
with strangles on March 23. The facility has placed those horses and 36
others that might have been exposed on a strict quarantine, Van Den Broek said.
After the outbreak in Florida, several high-profile trainers, including
Bobby Frankel, Nick Zito, Todd Pletcher and Kiaran McLaughlin, shipped some
of their horses to either Keeneland or Churchill Downs, where the Derby is run.
"A lot of people were worried about there being restrictions on
transporting horses, so maybe there was a little more urgency to get your
horses out," said Neil McLaughlin, an assistant trainer who attended the
meeting at Keeneland. "It came more from the owners than the horsemen
themselves. A lot of owners were requesting that their horses be moved from
Palm Meadows."
Churchill Downs and the New York Racing Association, which operates Belmont
Park and Aqueduct racetracks, have placed temporary travel restrictions on
horses coming from Palm Meadows and nearby Gulfstream Park.
Churchill Downs spokesman John Asher said Churchill Downs' ban on accepting
such horses is "a day-to-day situation" and that track officials "want to
get a handle" on how the Palm Meadows outbreak is being handled before
lifting the ban.
Palm Meadows' measures are similar to those taken at the Churchill
Downs-operated Trackside training facility in Louisville, where portions of
2 barns were placed under quarantine 11 Mar 2005 after a suspected case of
strangles was identified the previous day.
[Byline: Murray Evans]
--
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[Strangles is bacterial disease in horses caused by _ Streptococcus equi_.
Though it is highly contagious, there is a vaccination. Although it may not
completely eliminate the disease, it will substantially reduce the
seriousness of the disease.
Horses that are moved form barn to barn between states and countries have a
stressed immune system and may be more vulnerable to infection.
Occasionally the abscess of the disease may spread to other organs of the
body, even the neurological system, where it may be fatal. This dispersed
form is sometimes called "bastard strangles." Although most cases of
strangles can be successfully treated, the treatment depends upon the stage
the disease is in.
Horse owners who know their horse will be in crowded situations such as
racetrack barns or show barns should give consideration to vaccinating the
horse at least 2 to 4 weeks prior to the situation.
This particular outbreak seems very widespread and certainly has caught the
attention of the media and horse owners. Especially since Churchill Downs,
the race track where the Kentucky Derby is run on the first Saturday in
May, is involved. - Mod.TG]

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