Three horses at a private training center in La Grange, Ky., have been confirmed positive for Streptococcus equi, the bacterium that causes strangles. The Department of Agriculture has quarantined the barn. Two of the positive horses have been removed from the property and are in isolation, with the third remaining on the farm but segregated from the general population.

Strangles is an infection of the lymph nodes in the head and neck. Abscesses in the lymph nodes and a thick nasal discharge are the characteristic signs of strangles infection.

Rusty Ford, Equine Programs Manager with the Kentucky State Veterinarian’s office confirmed three horses did test positive, but said a slightly elevated temperature is the only clinical sign the horses have displayed.

“We’ve not seen any ruptured abscesses, no nasal discharges,” Ford stated