In May, several wild horses at the Boise BLM corral began showing signs of a bacterial infection. The highly contagious equine disease prompted officials to close the facility until the horses got better.
The infection is called “strangles” because it causes the horse’s lymph nodes to swell to the point where they can suffocate. But BLM spokesperson Mike Williamson says that didn’t happen to any of the wild horses at the Boise corral.
“There was no mortalities from it," Williamson says. "All the horses that got sick got better; they just had to get through it.”
He says about 100 animals were infected since they first detected it in May. With the disease gone, the corral has reopened to visitors and horses can once again be adopted.
“This is not an unusual situation. Other corrals have had bouts with it in the past. Private and the public ones with the BLM.”
Williamson says people who had to wait to adopt a horse over the summer have begun calling the corral again to see the animals.
Find reporter Frankie Barnhill on Twitter @FABarnhill
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