Avoiding the Pitfalls and Making the Most of Diagnostic tests for Strangles

Several properties of the causal organism of strangles, Streptococcus equi subspecies equi (S. equi), would lend themselves well to eradication of the disease were our profession, along with the owners of affected horses, united and committed to best practice. Unfortunately the realism of budgetary constraints along with imperfect investigative techniques frequently leads to failure to detect horses that pose a risk of carrying the organism silently and thereby perpetuating this common and devastating disease. Undoubtedly it is the existence of silent carriers hidden among the general equine population that is of paramount importance in the epidemiology of strangles and it is their targeting which should surpass all other objectives when controlling with the disease.