The New York Racing Association and the New York State Gaming Commission have placed a group of horses located in Barn 66 at Saratoga Race Course under a 14-day quarantine due to a positive case of strangles.
NYRA is actively working to relocate quarantined horses to an alternate facility where they will have access to isolated training hours.
Strangles is a contagious bacterial infection that generally affects a horse's respiratory system and causes symptoms similar to those of strep throat in humans. When properly diagnosed and treated, strangles is not considered a life-threatening infection and horses recover fully. Complications can occur, however.
According to the University of California Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, the bacteria cross mucous membranes in the nose and mouth of horses to infect lymph nodes. The infected lymph nodes become swollen, which can compress the upper respiratory tract (hence the name strangles).
The 2-year-old filly (Tenacious Child), who is trained by George Weaver and stabled in Barn 66, was tested for a number of potential ailments over the weekend, and a positive test for strangles was returned the evening of June 25. NYRA formally announced the quarantine June 26.
The latest finding is one of several cases of strangles reported over the past month in New York. A barn at Saratoga was quarantined from late May to mid-June, and another was quarantined beginning in mid-June at Belmont Park.
In addition to Barn 66 at Saratoga, horses under the care of Weaver stabled in barns 60 and 63 will be monitored for symptoms as part of a precautionary quarantine protocol that will remain in place through June 28 as directed by the New York State Department of Agriculture.
Immediately upon notification of a possible case of strangles June 21, NYRA's veterinary department established a precautionary isolated training period for horses located in Weaver's barns (60, 63, and 66) at Saratoga while awaiting test results.
Horses in barns 60, 63, and 66 will not be permitted to enter races or train among the general horse population at this time.
NYRA and the NYSGC implemented standard infectious disease protocols including restricting access to the horses in the affected barns, establishing a 24-hour security watch, mandating regular temperature checks for the horses in that barn, and enacting biosecurity measures for all individuals requiring access to barns 60, 63, and 66.
Strangles is spread by horse-to-horse contact or by humans, tack, shared drinking buckets, and other environmental factors.
Beyond the quarantine protocols currently in place, NYRA has enacted no additional restrictions over shipping horses in and out of Saratoga. Other tracks sometimes impose equine shipping restrictions to or from a track that has a barn or barns under quarantine.
This press release has been edited for content and style by BloodHorse Staff.
