This name refers to the chest of the horse bulging outward, resembling a male pigeon strutting around to impress the females. There is no connection to the birds with this bacterial infection. there are many names for this disease including "dryland Distemper", "deep pectoral abscess", "ulcerative lymphangitis" and 'caseous lymphadenitis". There may be a connection to biting flies, however, so strict fly control is very helpful. The bacteria causing this disease is named Corynebacterium Pseudotuberculosis, and the name comes from the bacterial tendency to hide from immunity and medical therapy inside the animals cells the way real Tuberculosis can.

This bacteria also causes disease ( caseous lymphadenitis ) in sheep, goats, cattle, llamas, dogs and may even be spread to humans in rare instances. The most likely theory concerning its spread is that biting insects can spread it. It is capable of living in soil for long periods of time, and ultimitely picked up by the flies and injected into the horse or other animal. It can take a long period of time to localize into a lymph node or a deep muscular abscess, but can rarely even go into the chest or abdomen of the animal and be very hard to diagnose. We see these abscesses in the fall and winter seasons, but that may be because the disease takes so long to develop, that they may be infected in the summer and not show anything until the fall. Dr Humphrey Knight spent his entire career trying to find more about this disease and we still don't know many things for sure about it, nor do we have a vaccine either. It can develop abscesses all along the chest, belly and sheath of horses which can be located by ultrasound imaging and eventually drained with a big needle or opened with a scalpel. I recently drained one, with a big needle, after ultrasound scanning it, and replaced the pus removed, with penicillin. When the culture came back the next week, the abscess was noticeably smaller already and eventually faded away and disappeared on its own, without having to lance it at all. That brings up the question of medical therapy and contagion. It is not considered contagious between horses if the abscess has been cleanly opened and washed out and packed with Betadine and gauze. If the abscess drains naturally and wipes onto another horse, it could infect the other horse in some instances. No one knows for sure about the contagious question, but large stables who quarantine have no different spread of it than those who don't.

The western U.S. has the abscess form of the disease predominantly and the eastern U.S. usually has the 'ulcerative lymphangitis' form of it leading to a very swollen and painful leg. Both forms can occur and often overlap geographically with the western form steadily spreading into states east of California that never used to see it at all.

The use of antibiotics before the abscesses break open, or are lanced, is up to the individual veterinarian since some cases are making the horse sicker than others. Once the abscess opens, usually just flushing it out is all the therapy needed, but the internal abscesses may need antibiotics for many weeks or even months. The painful swollen legs infections will need antibiotics immediately and it may reoccur many times in the horses life. This is a big subject and usually if you ask your local veterinarian about it, the vet can fill you in on the disease in your area. Bob Saunders DVM

I have been having a pigeon fever problem on my property since October of 07', one of them being a severe case that almost killed my horse. The abscess was located in the paracardium and very hard to diagnose by the vet because the horse only had two very small abscess's on his chest but was very sick , after we lanced the two small places on his chest he continued to get worse so the vet assumed he must have an internal one and started him on a course of antibiotics for three weeks. He seemed a little better but two days after the antibiotics were finished he relapsed. I also had a mare with it ( she was the first to get it) hers were localized on her abdomen from in front of the umbilicle area to her udders. She had a total of six different breakouts. Now i have a yearling filly that has it all over her belly and her udders and was febrile and very painfull and lethargic.
I am getting very frustrated with this bacteria on my property since it seems to keep infecting my horses, I breed horses and so there is always babies on the property. My vet bills have been astronomical and i need to know if there is possibly anything that I can treat my property with to kill the bacteria.

My horse came down with Pigeon Fever last year in the Fall. From what I have witnessed it is from Flies. My horse had a small patch of flies right under his belly towards the front, hard to see unless you really look. When I discovered he had pigeon fever it was too late. I board my horse at a facility and many horses came down with this, but also there are a lot of flies around and cattle. The horses that came down with this were no where near each other as this place is very large. I do not believe it is contagious in that way. I truely believe it is from flies and it is important to keep the flies off your horse with strong fly spray regularly. I sprayed my horse all summer and brushed and bathed him and am keeping my fingers crossed he doesn't come down with it this fall. I do believe also to let the abscesses start to burst first before giving antibiotics otherwise it will take longer to treate and most likely have a re-occurance. It is very hard to determine just the right time to start giving antibiotics. Mine, I gave right after his first abscess was noticed as it is very ugly and scary looking...but now I almost wonder if I should of waited longer as he had this disease for a long time and it took forever -3 months...plus he had a re-occurance after I stopped the antibiotics, but it may not of been completely gone and just under the surface as this disease lies deep within there muscles or nodes, it takes a lot to clear it all out. AND I was treating him morning and night. Flushing his wounds out with iodine duluted with warm water. he came down with several that also had to be lanced open. I think if he was to get it again, I would wait to give him antibiotics just a little longer, but flush out the abscesses. He looks better than ever now and is doing fantastic! Huge Vet bill that I don't want to go through again. It's too bad they don't have a vaccine. I almost feel strangles and this is related from what I have seen, it seems to work the same way somewhat.

Hi, I wondered if any of you who have been through this before can help. One of my colts has pigeon fever. We are in Northern California. He had a swollen sheath and swelling in front of it. He has now had numerous abscesses since that one. One no sooner subsides than another pops up. At the same time as the sheath area abscess he had one at the top inside of his right front leg. Later in the process, up til now, he has had abscesses on the outside front leg and on the lower leg. His leg is quite swollen. The vet drew blood initially and didn't think he showed signs of internal abscesses, luckily. His fever today was 105.4, the highest yet, and I am very worried about his swollen leg. His knee is swollen, too, and it obviously hurts him. Has anyone had this with the swollen leg and had it resolve? The vet was out again yesterday and did some lancing and flushing and said she thinks he is doing okay but she would like to see the swollen leg subside. We are flushing but any tips on how best to do it would be great. Thanks! Nancy

We have a 13 yr old gelding that came down with pigeon fever 6 weeks ago. It started in the sheath area swelling 4 times it's normal size. He was very sick , high fever, not eating, not moving so the vet put him on antibotics for 5 days, also shots to get the swelling down. He developed swelling all the way up his belly line into the chest. That has gone away, he is mostly back to normal except for the sheath is still twice the size it should be and is hard, tender at times. The vet said this is as good as it might get. I can't believe this won't go away. The horse never did break out in any abcesses. Is this something that will go away in time or is there another alternative to get him back to normal?
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Bev.

I also, have a 4 year old gelding with abcesses and a very swollen sheath. My concern is the sheath. I have a 3 year old gelding who has already had 2 abcesses rupture and I am afraid another one is forming, but I am learning the hard way how to treat them. What I don't know is if the swollen sheath is a side effect of an abcess near by or is there an abcess on his sheath?
If there is an abcess on his sheath do I need to treat it differently? And how do I put a hot pack on it without getting my head kicked in?

Thank you!

Oct. 7, 2008

I had two horses diagnosed with pigeon fever today. One horse is a Morgan the other a quarter horse. I live in Walterville OR. Dr. Jeffrey Pelton, Eugene OR was familiar with the disease from the work he has done in California. This is the first case he has seen in Western Oregon. He said that is seen more in Eastern Oregon and dryer climates.

Well, it travels fast Bob...here it is the 12th of October and we have one horse seriously, seriously infected today in Oregon City, OR. We have 6 more on the property in open fields together. Did anyone have any suggestions for getting this out of the soil?

Yes it seems to be spreading fast in oregon city/canby area,2 of our neighbors have it and were thinking one of our horse may be coming down with it,we've noticed hair loss on the under belly area,does anyone know if that is a starting symtom,also very tender under the belly area,went to put some swat on her under belly and she lifted her leg as to kick,She has never done that.....And yes is there anyting we can do to our soil now to get rid of it,lime or ? thanks

I live in the Mid Valley and have 2 horses that have it. The hair loss could be from the horse pawing at it. Ours did as we saw the blood on the back hoof. Found out from OSU Vet School this morning that It will only live in the soil for about 2 weeks. They sound like they are really trying to get on top of this. Can use bleach - 1 gallon to 3 gallons of water. We plan on just using our garden sprayers and 4-wheeler sprayer and spraying the areas the horses have been. Hope this helps and I feel your pain. We really haven't notice much of a fly problem this year but I guess it only takes one.

Hi Bev,
I am wondering what has happened with your gelding since you wrote last. I have a 4 year old with sheath swelling and I still can't tell if the abcess is actually on the sheath or just in the area, he has had an abcess on his chest break open and drain but only swelling in the groin area as of today, but he is very tender and the swelling has increased in the past couple days. I would be interested to hear an update from you if you have time. I am trying to learn as much as I can about this bacteria. I have 5 horses and currenly only 2 wiith the abcesses. It is my understanding that it is here to stay and will be an issue every year in the late summer and early fall. I am preparing to be battleing this every fall until immunities are built up.
I hope we can all learn from each others experiences.
I live in Bend, Oregon and the vets say this the first time they have seem Pigeon fever so rampant in our area.
Thank you!

Mid-Valley Oregon update on our horses. Mare had 2 abscesses in the girth area. One has broken open and is now healing. Very hard tissue surrounds the area though and I think it will take a long time to be 100% if ever. The second one is not far from the first and doesn't appear to be progressing or going away. We are still treating it and hoping it will go down. All her ab swelling is gone and she is appears to be fine energy wise. Eating/drinking. She did go off of water for a day and I gave her electrolites and that helped. The gelding has 1 abscess on his chest. No swelling is noticed in other places like his groin. and I keep looking but haven't seen any swelling other than the abscess itself. His ruptured and so far has a lot smaller of a sore to heal up. All the tissue is not dying off the like the mares did. Same thing with going off of water though, so I gave electrolites to him too. The 3rd horse, mare, shows no signs at all thank goodness. I quarantined all the horses individually. My husband has already been trying to find out more of what types of fly control we can do for next year. I hope we can deter from any other reoccurances next year.

Everyone - Google Pigeon Fever to get your info . . BUT check the dates on these articles!! They are OLD and not updated. The outbreaks run in cycles - every 5-6 years in our area of Mid Valley, Oregon. The places that had it then DO NOT have a higher case rate now than the surrounding areas. Usually 10-20% in a herd will get it in different degrees of infection. You must be diligent with your fly spray and be careful with containing the pus. Although a real nuisance and very hard to deal with - most horses will be fine. Very few really have complications. The bleach mixture is 1/10 ratio and it helps to have a feed pan full outside the barn for a foot bath when you leave. Just dip the sole of your boots or shoe in the mixture and you will be protected from taking it with you to another area. We have had 6 out of 42 horses infected. 3 are fully over it / 2 are full blown of which 1 had to go to the Vet due to complications / and 1 is just in the lump stage. Hopefully with the end of fly season we will be done! Next year will be a regular year - think positive!! Good luck everyone & hang in there.

Gaston, Oregon. Dead horse. One of ours died of pigeon fever last night. She had two abscesses October 27th and we had the vet out. We treated her twice a day, had the vet out twice a week, but she couldn't shake it. Her abscesses began on her belly, then she got one behind her eye (tmj area) that prevented her from eating because it was so painful. Each abscess was lanced when ripe, if it didn't open on its own, then we flushed it twice a day. We did hot packs to get them to ripen. She also developed a large abscess on her thigh, and a small one halfway up her side on her ribs. The tmj and the thigh and the rib abscess were all ready and were lanced last Monday. Tuesday she was feeling better, Wednesday she was a bit worse, Thursday the vet drew blood and Friday morning we put her on antibiotics, and she died Friday night.
We think the abscesses developed internally. I've read that happens only about 3% of the time, but 40% of those die. The horse we lost was a 14 year old mare, hadn't been off the property since March. I do remember seeing some flies on her belly where she first abscessed, a month or two before she broke out. She was our fattest horse (greedy eater at the feeder), so I wrote off the edema to fat when she showed some in mid-October.
We have another mare, 12 years old, that has had lots of abdominal abscesses. We are hot packing the front of her udder, which is where they are staging now. The vet has lanced about half a dozen on her. She is frisky, eating well, tolerates the hot packs well, endures the scrub, and sometimes I can flush an abscess. The vet gives her a tranquilizer and gets them cleaner.
Our 21 year old mare had one uncomplicated abscess so far on an ear, the 17 year old had one on her udder that opened on its own with a large hole and drained well. Neither one of those tolerated treatment well, but we tried.
We did not quarantine any horse because I am convinced it travels by flies. We did not have it on our propery before the first horse got sick, we do not share a fenceline with any neighboring horses. Our first sick horse ran with the herd when her first two burst, so it was already spread on our property. The vet and I differed on this choice, she wanted the horse removed from the others, but I felt she would do better if she got to remain with the herd.
The other horses have done much better than the one that died. I think the strength of immune system helps. If I knew how fast she would decline, we would have started antibiotics when she started to have trouble eating. This is a horrible disease.

We live in SE Missouri and also have a young horse less than three years old that we think has this Piegion Fever. His shelth was the first sign of anything being wrong. We thought he had just damaged or had something up in the shelth. We flushed it out and put him on antibiotics but after two weeks the shelth is swollen worst than ever.He now has a soft spot on the underneath of his belly and his legs are starting to swell. We have three other horses that seem to be fine. Do not know what to do next! Any suggestions?

The first post in the line was by a veterinarian. He said the swelling in the legs call for antibiotics. Some horses have to be on them for months. My other three horses are still doing well, so have hope.

If you were to ask what i thought of this whole pieon fever I feel it is contagious and can be transferable. I feel the best way to rid of this is to all stay home treat the horse with all the flysprays for one season.It seems its a bactirial thing and its the young and middle that are being at risk. i have two horse myself and i pray mine dont get the fever thats why im stayin home and i dont go visit any one that owns or boards horses any where. Until A deep freeze comes it will be a welcome site for all equine..

I have a 7 year old gelding that in October showed a lump like an egg on his chest and two small crusted abscesses (altready broken when I found them) on his midline. I cleaned off the midline ones and with Swat, they healed in 2-3 days. Over the course of two months the one on his chest grew to about the size of my hand but is now back to an egg size, and still hard. My vet (who drew blood initially and confirmed pigeon fever) considers that this chest abscess is either smply healing from the inside or is a swollen lymph gland. Either way, he says I should consider my horse recovered. I'm curious to know if others have seen abscesses that have healed without bursting or being drained by the vet? Other than what I've described here, he had a cough for a few weeks, now gone, and has never had a fever or any other symptom. He certainly seems back to normal in every way, aside from the small remaining lump. I am in Northern CA, by the way.

my horses have been sick with the pigeon fever for over two monthes and my dad is getting sick of going over there wipping the scab off, and wats weird about it is that there is like this hole type thig and this liquid puss type thing comes out of it and sometimes it wont stop it really just frustrating. and it seems like it never goes away. we went to the vet, they just give us anti-biotics.

we have a garden patch (quite large) on a farm that has had horses with pigeon fever. The lady lost 2 horses to it. No others seem to be infected. My question to you all is the manure from the infected horses was spread onto the garden. The manure was not composted, just spread. We put lime on the field, however with out proper facts on this illness, I am afraid to eat the food grown from this field. Can anyone tell me, if the bacteria can contaminate the food? After reading all these comments please let me say, my heart goes out to all of you. I hope a vaccine for this disease comes quickly. Thanks for any help you can give.

Just as a heads up... My mother has had 1 horse so far diagnosed with this horrid pigeon fever. She is in CENTRAL FLORIDA. I have done a little research and seems it is mostly CA, OR and as far as TX. I just wanted to let people know to have their friends watch for it in FL. The vet said he is doing 3 lances per week for the past month or so. Very scary!!

dustmagnet
*******EVERYONE!!!! email the pharmaceutical companies and ask them to develop a vaccine (AQHA article said it is possible) - they just need to know there is a demand!!!

dustmagnet
EVERYONE!!!! email the pharmaceutical companies and ask them to develop a vaccine (AQHA article said it is possible) - they just need to know there is a demand!!!

dustmagnet
EVERYONE!!!! email the pharmaceutical companies and ask them to develop a vaccine (AQHA article said it is possible) - they just need to know there is a demand!!!

dustmagnet - do you know how long a horse can carry this before symptons appear?

my mare was diagnosed a week ago (looking at her today I think we are going to loose her)
prior to last december she was in a "pigeon fever free" area of the country. I had her transported by a horse transport company to Utah but she spent about a week lay over in Colorado Springs at their facilities due to thanksgiving holiday. No neighboring animals are sick and I am wondering if she could have picked it up last december and just now have the abscesses manifest themselves.

EVERYONE - PLEASE CONTACT THE PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES AND ASK FOR A VACCINE!!!!!