american association of equine practitioners | Horse Racing Free Tips

AAEP Publishes Contagious Equine Metritis Guidelines

Comprehensive guidelines to assist veterinarians with identification, diagnosis and control of Contagious Equine Metritis (CEM), a non-systemic venereal disease of equines that causes short-term infertility in mares and rare abortion, are now available on the AAEP's website.

Six outbreaks of CEM have occurred in the U.S. in the past 15 years, including a significant outbreak in 2008 to 2010 in which over 1,000 exposed horses in 48 states were required to be tested, resulting in 23 contaminated stallions and five infected mares ultimately identified and treated.

“Outbreaks in the U.S. have demonstrated the risk of incursions and the need for surveillance in the active breeding population to identify cases early and limit disease spread,” said guidelines co-author Dr. Abby Sage, Richmond staff veterinarian for the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. “Several of these outbreaks also demonstrated significant stallion-to-stallion spread of Taylor equigenitalis via fomites and inadequate biosecurity during semen collection and stallion handling.”

Dr. Sage and co-author Dr. Peter Timoney, the Frederick Van Lennep Chair in Equine Veterinary Science at the University of Kentucky's Gluck Equine Research Center, advise equine practitioners and stallion owners/managers to follow stringent biosecurity protocols when collecting and handling stallions and consider implementation of annual testing of active breeding stallions prior to breeding season as ongoing assurance of disease freedom.

CEM is an internationally reportable disease. When the carrier status of a stallion or infection of a mare is suspected, practitioners should contact their state and/or federal animal health official, who will provide current collection and response procedures for suspect cases.

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The CEM Guidelines were reviewed and approved by the AAEP's Infectious Disease Committee and board of directors. View the guidelines or save them to your mobile device for future reference here.

Besides CEM, AAEP guidelines for 22 additional equine infectious diseases are available here.

Webinar Addresses How To Help At-Risk And In-Transition Horses

Join the American Horse Council (AHC) on Thursday May 27, 2021, at 1 p.m. EST to learn about some of the many resources available to help owners, horses at risk and horses in transition.

Ashley Harkins, Program Director for the United Horse Coalition will demonstrate the UHC Equine Resource Database, explore safety net programs available nationwide to help owners in need of assistance, share the UHC's COVID Resource site, and reveal new initiatives planned for 2021.

The mission of the UHC is to advocate responsible ownership through education. One of the many facets of this mission is to inform owners about assistance options, not only during the pandemic, but in any type of hardship.

Included in the discussion will be Emily Stearns, Program Manager of the Equine Welfare Data Collective (EWDC). The EWDC is a program of the UHC to collect, analyze, and report data on at-risk equines, those in transition, and the multitude of equine welfare organizations working diligently to help those in need.

The webinar will conclude with updates coming from UHC Members A Home For Every Horse (AHFEH), the ASPCA/Right Horse Initiative, and the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) about some of the programs and initiatives they have been working on to help owners, at-risk horses, and horses in transition.

The Friday Show: AAEP’s 30 Years Of On Call Service To The Derby

It's been 30 years since the American Association of Equine Practitioners first began providing veterinary expertise to nationally televised horse races in the event of injury to a participant or the need to have questions answered relative to a horse's well being.

In this week's edition of The Friday Show, equine surgeon Dr. Alan Ruggles, who will be the AAEP's On Call veterinarian for this year's Kentucky Derby telecast on NBC Sports, provides some perspective on the program and the On Call vet's role in communicating important information to both the television audience and to reporters from around the world who are at Churchill Downs to cover this year's extravaganza. A partner at the Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky., Ruggles also outlines some of the things going on behind the scenes to make racing as safe as possible for equine and human athletes alike. Please join publisher Ray Paulick and editor-in-chief Natalie Voss for the discussion.

Following our weekly Toast to Vino Rosso and a look at one of the Spendthrift Farm stallion's first-crop foals, news editor Chelsea Hackbarth and bloodstock editor Joe Nevills join Ray for some Derby picks and trash talk.

The post The Friday Show: AAEP’s 30 Years Of On Call Service To The Derby appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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AAEP Publishes Epizootic Lymphangitis Guidelines

The American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) has published on its website comprehensive guidelines to assist practitioners and regulatory agencies with identification, diagnosis and control of epizootic lymphangitis, a contagious, chronic granulomatous disease of the skin, lymphatic vessels and nodes of the limbs, neck and chest of horses and other equid species.

Although epizootic lymphangitis is not known to occur in horses in the United States, the disease is common in parts of Africa, the Middle East, Russia and Asia, where it is responsible for significant morbidity with chronic weight loss and progressive debility in affected animals.

“While epizootic lymphangitis has not been recorded in the United States, its importance as a transboundary/foreign animal disease needs to be emphasized because of its similarity to several domestic diseases with which it can be clinically mistaken, including ulcerative lymphangitis and streptothricosis,” said guidelines author Peter Timoney, MVB, MS, Ph.D., FRCCVS, the Frederick Van Lennep Chair in Equine Veterinary Science at the University of Kentucky's Gluck Equine Research Center. “Were it to be introduced, the causal agent can survive in dust and soil for an extended interval under conditions of heat and humidity, making it virtually impossible to eliminate.”

Epizootic lymphangitis is an OIE non-listed disease even though it is of significant socioeconomic importance in countries in which it is endemic, some of which engage in international trade of animals and animal products. Any suspicion of the disease in the United States is immediately reportable to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and State Animal Health Officials in all 50 states and territories.

The Epizootic Lymphangitis Guidelines were edited and reviewed by Abby Sage, VMD, DACVIM, chair of the Infectious Disease Guidelines Subcommittee of the AAEP's Infectious Disease Committee.

View the Epizootic Lymphangitis Guidelines or save them to your mobile device as a PDF file here. Besides epizootic lymphangitis, AAEP guidelines for two other foreign animal diseases are available here. In addition, AAEP guidelines for 22 other equine infectious diseases are available here.