Owners and veterinary surgeons can now get up to date information
about strangles outbreaks in the United Kingdom thanks to a new online tool
that has been developed by the Animal Health Trust (AHT).
Strangles is a common infectious disease of horses that is
found throughout the world. Not only is it an important welfare concern, but it
also causes significant economic costs to owners and disruption of competition
schedules.
The website, developed by the Animal Heath Trust, with
support of the Horse Trust and SEIB, Is part of the Surveillance of Equine Strangles
project, which was launched in 2019 by the AHT, in collaboration with the Royal
Veterinary College and the Universities of Liverpool and Melbourne, and with
financial support from The Horse Trust.
Being able to see where strangles is being diagnosed will
allow owners to increase their vigilance and biosecurity /hygiene measures when
they know that they are in, or are planning to travel to, areas where there is
a higher risk of encountering the disease.
“Not only do we want
to help contribute to research into Strangles but one of our key aims is to
share our findings with the equine industry to help keep the UK’s horses and
ponies, happy and healthy and to reduce the spread of strangles.”
The information for the website is gleaned anonymously from veterinary
laboratories around the UK when they confirm a diagnosis of strangles
infection. It includes data on the location of the vet practice submitting the
sample, the type of horse or pony from which the sample was collected, and
details of the type of sample and methods used for diagnosis.
The new online tool includes a useful mapping function,
which highlights regions where cases have been confirmed. It also allows users
to change date ranges so they can view information particularly relevant to
them and their location.
Dr Richard Newton, Director of Disease Surveillance and
Epidemiology at the Animal Health Trust, said: “This new website provides
comprehensive insights about the disease in a very up-to-date manner in a way
that has never been available before.
“However, the resource is only as useful as the data
supplied from vets on the ground. I would urge colleagues to help us to keep
this resource as up-to-date and comprehensive as possible by completing full
details on submission forms being sent to any laboratory, so this information
can contribute – anonymously – to the national picture of strangles.”
The Animal Health Trust now hopes to extend the online tool
to include international data. This will enable meaningful comparisons to be
made of strangles in different countries, which in turn could lead to new
strategies on how to improve control of the disease in different parts of the
world.
Abbi McGlennon, PhD student at the Animal Health Trust, who
led the development of the resource, said: “Our aim with the Surveillance of
Equine Strangles scheme is to reduce the spread of the disease. This website is
one of the first key tools to emerge from the larger surveillance project. It
joins the dots across the equine industry by collating information from
laboratory confirmed strangles diagnoses and communicating this back in almost
real time. I’m excited about the prospect of extending this internationally,
and the difference that could make for horses globally.
For more details, see:
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