Ridecamp: Re: [RC] carrier status and Strep. equi

> 1) (learned this from a research vet at U. Kenn.) The
> carrier horses are 1 of 3 things. 1, their guttural
> pouches never rupture for unknown reasons, and they
> harbor mild infection in their guttural pouches for
> unknown reasons. 2, they were fed Alfalfa Hay. For
> some reason a very high protien forage, especially
> alfalfa will make them retain the disease for longer
> than a low protien forage. 3, they were on an
> antibiotic that Strep Equi is sensitive to.

Makes sense that there are particular reasons why one individual would have
this problem, where most horses don't.

> 2) According to U. Kenn and a researcher from
> Australia (if anybody's interested I can dig his web
> site up) carrier horses are common. But, they don't
> all carry for life. Average time for disease shedding
> is something like 5.6 months, so that redefines
> "carrier" here, because my vet says if they're
> shedding after 8 weeks they're a carrier horse.

Ahhh.  Yes, that sounds much more reasonable than the concept of horses
being lifetime carriers.  That just didn't ring true with how the disease
seems to behave.

Heidi


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