The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has confirmed three more cases of strangles for 2018.
The first case was in a 5-year-old Quarter Horse gelding from Jackson County. The horse developed nasal discharge and fever on December 14, 2018, and was later confirmed on culture to have the disease. The horse recovered well.
The second case was in a 15-year-old Arabian mare in Washtenaw County that has an almost two-month history (first observed around November 1, 2018) of a cough and feed observed coming from her nostrils. The mare was subsequently found to have the disease through culture. The mare is under treatment at a premises that has had other cases of strangles confirmed this year.
It is unclear if either of the above horses was vaccinated against strangles.
The third positive strangles case was in a 7-year-old Quarter Horse gelding from Monroe County. The horse was examined by a veterinarian on December 28, 2018, due to an having nasal discharge for an unknown time and subsequently underwent confirmatory testing. The horse was unvaccinated and is recovering. No quarantines were issued.
This brings the total number of confirmed 2018 strangles cases in Michigan to 22.
This information was provided by the Equine Disease Communication Center.
