ABSTRACT
Horse raising in Brazil is of great economic importance, and due to intensification of this activity, respiratory diseases such as strangles have increased. The damages involve reduced performance, treatment costs and eventual deaths. Strangles is a disease caused by Streptococcus equi subsp. equi, a beta-hemolytic bacteria, of the C Lancefield group. The aim of this review was to relate some aspects of the disease and phenotipical and molecular features of the etiological agent and other Streptococcus of the same group, as well as to describe techniques of strangles diagnosis.
KEY WORDS
Streptococcus equi
; strangles; horses