I would also make sure that your horses are not in the same paddocks as the sick horses and that they are kept as far away from the sick horses as possible. No sharing buckets or brushes, and also thuroughly wash your hands/ change clothes if possible if you come into contact with the sick horses. I am not very familiar with the strangles vaccine, so I am not going to offer help there. I just know that about 10 years ago someone had the bright idea to bring horses home from an auction and throw them in with all of the regular camp horses. We almost lost 3 of our best horses to strangles due to that mistake. I remember that all of us were very careful to treat either the sick horses or care for the healthy ones. Luckily, we had no further spread of the sickness. Good Luck

Edited to say: I would also use lots of fly spray and an immune booster (we have a horse on Transfer Factor. Your vet could also recommend some.) If I am not mistaken, strangles can be spread through flies. I don't know how the weather is where you are, but here in GA the bugs "are back". I would definitely put a call into a vet - they will give you the best advice

I don't get what the big panic is about strangles.  It is nothing more than strep infection.  It is 99% non lethal in this day and age and yes it can cause damage to bronchi (the little fingers in the lungs) but mostly it is more of a nuisance than a serious condition.  It is like a bunch of school kids getting strep throat, the lymph nodes get infected and you have nasal drainage.  Typically the condition passes in 3-6 weeks, and possibly may have a reoccurance if the horse has a lowered immune system.  

I am on the fence as well on the immunizations against it.  I do know you have to immunize BEFORE the exposure.  Also antibiotics really don't make a difference unless you catch it at the very beginning.  The test costs around $50 to find out if it really is strangles and takes a 7-10 days for results.

The biggest thing is not get stressed about it, as it will pass.  Yes it can ruin a show season, but it is not the end of the world.  Everyone hears or reads strangles and goes into panic mode. 

Horses do not have to share the same bucket, pasture, etc to get it.  It is airborne.  A vet, farrier, your local gas meter reader, etc can bring it to your barn. 

A horse is more likely to get it if there are more than one there.  But the general consensus is, once they have gotten it, healed and recuperated, they are pretty much immune to it if exposed again. 

Yes it is a nuisance, but it doesn't mean a death sentence to a horse as long as you properly care for it and it was in good health prior to the contagion.

We went through the "scare" and it turned out to be rhino, not strangles.  So ensure they had the strep test done to determine if it is actually strangles.

Horses do not have to share the same bucket, pasture, etc to get it.  It is airborne.  A vet, farrier, your local gas meter reader, etc can bring it to your barn. 

A horse is more likely to get it if there are more than one there.  But the general consensus is, once they have gotten it, healed and recuperated, they are pretty much immune to it if exposed again

I have to respond.  Have been dealing with strangles for over a year at the place I ride every weekend.  It IS NOT AIRBORNE.  Passed from draining nasal secretions and draining infection leaving the bacteria around which can live up to 4 weeks, especially in porous stuff like wood.  Also horses rubbing noses, using same water buckets and humans touching an infected horse and then touching another not infected can pass strangles.

Also, a horse can have strangles more than one time.  Immunity is short lived because it is a respiratory condition, just like kennel cough in a dog.

Pfitzer has a good webpage on strangles and you can put in strangles on search and get a wealth of info.  My info has come from this source along with numerous different vets info and personal experience.

Since my horses are on the road a lot, I vaccinate my horses once a year against strangles.  I have used both the nasal and the injectable.  I've never had any problems with my horses afterwards, except for a little body soreness with the injectable. 

I was really glad my horses were vaccinated when I was at a roping a few years ago.  There was a horse drinking out of the common water trough that looked like it had full blown strangles, including a ruptured abcess on it's neck.  I felt so sorry for the horse he looked miserable, I couldn't believe that someone would be so selfish to rope/ride the horse when it was so sick and to expose everone else's horses.

Its as if there is a stigma to strangles- people are embarrassed to even mention their horse has had it. I had two of my three come down with stranges last fall. Never had it before and I had never seen a case either. So when I looked at my 3 yr old arabian act as if he were strangling, I was concerned he was. I noticed he was off, not feeling good. Then I checked the other two,the 7 yr old ALSO appeared to be choking- my pea brain added it up and yes the vet said stranges.

There are two schools of thought- let them ride it out ( so to speak) with no antibiotics and the other is to administer anitbiotics. I went with the antibiotic route. The 7 yr old recovered within 7 days but the 3 yr old was sick for a month. He is fine now. No lasting effects. My vet is not convinced vaccines are effective.

I wish I had been able to respond earlier - I just joined and saw this post.  In 2004 I was boarding my horses at a facility.  In early August, the woman who owned the facility called me and said one of my horses had "The Snots" (her definition) and that it was probably "Just the summer sniffles".  I drove over there and found one of my horses near death.  Apparently the facility owner had 2 horses who had Strangles earlier in the year, and rather than give any of us the option of vaccinating for Strangles and preventing the disease, she chose to hide it and not tell anyone her horses were sick; rather she just turned them out into the pasture with other horses, who promptly picked it up and it became a regular pandemic.  There were over 20 horses who got sick; one of hers died, and mine nearly died.  My horse's abcess didn't go outward; it went inward and began to cut off his airways. He couldn't breathe, couldn't eat and couldn't drink.  He was so sick that he dropped over 100 pounds in less than a week.  I had to put him on antibiotics for 10 days before they could even operate on him and drain the abcess. It was another 4 weeks before he was out of quarantine and I could bring him home. 

The disease is spread through contamination. Buckets, brushes, clothing, shoes can all carry the disease. Even petting a horse with Strangles can allow you to transport the disease.  Every time I entered my horse's paddock, I had to spray my shoes with a bleach solution when I left. I only wore my jacket in the paddock with him; the rest of the time it was in the trunk of my car away from the other horses.  I even wore coveralls over my pants to keep from cross-contaminating him.  When he was being treated in the vet stall, I sprayed the vet stall with a bleach solution  and even sprayed the alleyway where he'd walked.

The bacteria can live in the ground under optimal conditions for as long as 6 months after an outbreak.  Some horses show no symptoms but still can be carriers - others (like mine) are very susceptible and can become sick and die. 

Now I don't have to worry about the disease because both of mine have been exposed and survived.  My horse also has severe scar tissue in his throatlatch which occasionally will fill with infection and drain; people think it's strangles but it's not.  I would definitely have any young horse or a horse who does not have a good immune system the vaccine.  It may not prevent it, but it would certainly lessen the severity of the disease. 

I spent over $1,500.00 treating my horse for this disease when a fairly inexpensive vaccine would have prevented it IF I HAD BEEN WARNED THAT THE DISEASE WAS ON THE PREMISES!!! As it was the owner admitted her horses had carried it in the first place, and that she didn't tell anyone because she didn't want to "Start a wholesale panic".  Then she further went on to say that she didn't have to tell anyone if she didn't want to.  I felt (and still feel) that she had a MORAL obligation to her boarders to let them know that this was a potential problem. You're lucky to have the option of vaccinating your horse...

Mari