The Bureau of Land Management is suspending visits and adoptions at the wild horse and burro corrals in Litchfield, Calif., due to a bacterial infection.
A small number of horses at the facility are showing signs of the contagious Streptococcus equi, also known as strangles, according to a March 16 news release. The facility will be closed for approximately 30 days, and no animals will be released or accepted into the facility until the infections subside.
"This disease is highly contagious among horses,” Emily Ryan, manager of the BLM Eagle Lake field office, said in the release. “Our priority is the health of the animals. Because this type of infection is so easily spread, we need to close the facility to the public to prevent people accidentally spreading the infection to their own horses after visiting our corrals.”
Strangles is an infectious, contagious disease in horses "characterized by abscessation of the lymphoid tissue of the upper respiratory tract," the Merck Veterinary Manual reported. The infection is highly adaptable and produces clinical disease only in horses, donkeys and mules.
Strangles symptoms include fever higher than 103 degrees, lack of interest in normal activities, thick white-to-yellow nasal discharge and swelling under the jaw or in the throat, according to VetSpecialists.com. The disease gets its informal name because it can restrict airways when infected lymph nodes press on the back of the throat.
VetSpecialists.com reported uncomplicated cases of strangles can be treated with soft food, shelter, anti-inflammatories, hot packing and draining of abscesses and antibiotics, such as penicillin.
Affected horses at the Litchfield corrals are being isolated in a large holding area "until the disease runs its course," the news release said. Corral staff will limit the animals' movement inside the multi-pen facility and will consult closely with a veterinarian about care and when corral reopening can be safely done. Daily care and feeding will continue as normal.
