March 2003

Pigeon Fever Spreads Eastward

Commonly believed to be a West-Coast problem, this abscess-forming disease has been seen as far east as Kentucky.

Pigeon fever is more common in horses under five, suggesting that horses in endemic areas develop a protective immunity as a result of exposure to the organism by this age.

Pigeon fever, also known as "dryland strangles," is a bacterial infection. It produces typically thick-walled abscesses that contain heavy, creamy pus and resemble tuberculosis lesions.

It was dubbed "pigeon fever" because over 60% of the infections are on the chest where the abscesses result in a puffed-out appearance that looks like a pigeon breast. The origin of the term "dryland strangles" comes from the facts that the infection is most common in dry areas with low annual rainfall and the strangles organism also produces abscesses. …