biosecurity | 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.

Can Cell Phones Carry Contamination? Study Shows They Can

Though veterinarians and horse owners and managers often practice strict biosecurity protocols, including foot baths and glove changes between horses, a new study has shown that one kind of equipment is often overlooked as a harbinger of potential contamination: portable electronic devices.

It would be nearly impossible to run a business without a cell phone these days, and veterinarians are particularly wedded to their devices, which often include tablets to access patient records, calendars and more.

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Though it may seem that these devices would have little ability to carry contamination between horses, a British study has shown that it is possible for them to carry harmful organisms. Once a veterinarian taps or swipes on a device, he or she may then transfer the bacteria or virus to a patient he touches next.

Researchers at the University of Bristol small animal hospital found that 41 staff members used portable electronic devices every day inside the hospital. They swabbed and tested 47 devices for contamination. Staphylococci was found on 68 percent of the devices and more than one-third of isolated colonies were resistant to vancomycin and oxacillin.

Of the staff used in the study, 54 percent cleaned their devices with disinfectant; 21 percent cleaned them weekly or daily, but 44 percent never cleaned their devices at all.

The researchers conclude that portable electronic devices have the potential to become contaminated with harmful bacteria and should be disinfected at least once a day with an antimicrobial wipe or spray.

Read the paper here.

Kentucky Position On EHV Quarantine At Saratoga Race Course

E.S. “Rusty” Ford, equine operations consultant for the Kentucky Office of the State Veterinarian, released the following update regarding a diagnosis of EHV-1 at Saratoga Race Course.

On Thursday evening (7/15) we received notification that Barn 86 at Saratoga Race Course had been placed under quarantine by NYRA Veterinary Officials and New York's Gaming Commission following a diagnosis of EHV1 in a horse that had been stabled on the grounds. Since that time, we have maintained open lines of communication with both NYRA and the NY Department Agriculture's State Veterinarians Office and have been working with the KY Horse Racing Commission and KY racetrack's management teams.

A description of the disease event can be viewed on the Equine Disease Communication Center's website.

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Additionally, we did reaffirm earlier this morning that the status is unchanged and there have been no new EHV cases reported.

Dr. Flynn and I would like to take this opportunity to remind you that mitigating risk of disease introduction and transmission is a shared responsibility with success dependent on multiple parties all working together to achieve the common goal of maintaining safe and healthy environments for our horses. Since Thursday, we have worked closely with our tracks and training facilities to establish procedures and protocols that continues to allow movement of horses originating from Saratoga Race Course onto Kentucky tracks. With that in mind, we want to ensure that other equine facilities receiving horses understand the importance of having strong biosecurity protocols in place and practiced daily when processing and managing new arrivals onto your facility. Your veterinarian is a valuable resource to review and give recommendations based on your individual premises and we, too, will be happy to review your plan and share our thoughts on best practices.

Kentucky's Position at This Point in Time: With horses in the affected barn remaining under quarantine, segregated from the general population, and being closely monitored for evidence of illness, we are satisfied horses residing in other barns at Saratoga can qualify and be permitted entry onto our Kentucky tracks and training facilities by fully meeting our established entry requirements. These requirements include a Certificate of Veterinary Inspection (CVI) certifying examination and issuance of the certificate was made during the 72-hour period preceding the horses arrival at the Kentucky track/facility and includes certification of the horse meeting our established EHV1 vaccination requirement as well as EIA testing.

Additionally, I am encouraging tracks to have the shipping of horses from Saratoga onto the grounds be scheduled with the stable manager and that the arrival and stabling information be shared with the track's Equine Medical Director or his designee.

We appreciate the opportunity to provide factual information resulting from the open lines of communication with NYRA and NY Department of Agriculture veterinary officials. We will continue to monitor this developing event and provide updates as new information is learned or a change in the status occurs.

Visit the Kentucky Department of Agriculture here.

The post Kentucky Position On EHV Quarantine At Saratoga Race Course appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Science Sleuths: Infectious Or Contagious?

Infectious. Contagious. You have probably heard these words several times in your life, maybe even used them. While similar and related, they are often used interchangeably or incorrectly and there is a difference. The distinction between the two is this: All contagious diseases are infectious, but not all infectious diseases are contagious.

The literal definition of infectious is “the process or state of being infected with a disease.” And to infect means “to affect or contaminate someone or something with pathogenic microbial agents.” Pathogenic meaning disease producing, and microbial referring to viruses, bacteria or other microorganisms. To simplify infectious, it basically means germs get into the body and spread, causing sickness. Contagious diseases are infectious diseases that can be transmitted through direct bodily (close) contact with an infected individual or their bodily discharges, or an object or surface they have contaminated (i.e. COVID-19). Other infectious diseases, however, are transmitted indirectly such as by mosquitoes (malaria) or ticks (Lyme disease).

The Big Picture

Contagious diseases are spread by contact, while infectious diseases are spread by infectious agents. So when something is contagious, it is also infectious because some contact exposed you or your animal to the infectious agent. Something infectious however is not always contagious. Confused yet? You can be infected with food poisoning (you ate the potato salad that sat out in the sun), but food poisoning isn't contagious (you aren't going to pass your food poisoning to someone else or your animals with just a simple contact). Suppose you are near someone sneezing quite a bit and they have an obviously stuffy nose. Well, if you have contact with that person and then you develop the sniffles and sneezes, it was contagious. It was also infectious because the way sniffles and sneezes are contagious is usually through an agent such as a virus or bacteria. If that person's symptoms were caused by allergies though, they aren't contagious because you can't catch allergies.

Since disease is spread by pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, fungi, parasites and other microorganisms, biosecurity at your farm is key to prevention. Having a solid plan in place to keep pathogens away from your farm or property, animals and personnel is key. The major components for your program are (adapted from USDA-APHIS):

General Signs of Animal Diseases of Concern

Sudden, unexplained deaths in the herd or flock
Severe illness affecting a high percentage of animals
Blistering around an animal's mouth, nose, teats or hooves
Unusual ticks, maggots or other insects
Staggering, falling or central nervous system disorders
Abortions or still births

Control Access to Your Property

Have only one combined entrance and exit to your farm if possible.
Keep property gates locked at all times.
Make sure all visitors check with you prior to entering your property or visiting your animals.
If you have a large number of visitors, keep track of who visits your farm. Make sure all visitors sign in at arrival and sign out at departure.
Only allow essential vehicles and visitors to enter the farm and keep these vehicles in a separate area away from animals.

Biosecurity Precautions

When a new animal moves onto a farm, be sure that the health status and the source of the animal is known.
New animals or animals returning to a farm should be separated from the rest of the herd for approximately two weeks. This can be difficult in some cases. If you are unable to completely isolate the animals, keep them in a pen or stall farthest from the rest of the stock, keep feed and water buckets or bowls separate, avoid nose-to-nose contact with other stock. For horses or stock that need to be exercised or worked, remove other animals from the pen, arena or paddock and set up a time for the new stock to have access to the area.
Keep vehicles, such as milk, feed and livestock trucks, from driving through areas where animals are housed or feed is kept.
Wash hands thoroughly before/after handling livestock.
Ask visitors to provide information about recent farm and animal contacts; deny entry if they have been to an area or farm of concern.
Clothing worn on farms in other locations/countries should be washed.
All footwear should be disinfected before entering and after leaving an animal housing area.
Discourage visitors from walking through feed mangers and having physical contact with animals.
Report morbidity and mortality events to your local veterinarian or to the state veterinarian's office.

Provide Disposable Protective Clothing

Make sure visitors entering your farm have clean clothes or you can keep a supply of disposable clean coveralls and boot/shoe covers for visitors.
If you haul your own animals, wash your truck, clean and disinfect boots and change coveralls before returning to your farm.
In general, don't borrow or share equipment. In cases where there are no other options, clean and disinfect the equipment prior to use and make sure to repeat these steps prior to returning the items.
If it is necessary to be around the animals of another farm, consider wearing protective clothing such as coveralls, and boots that can be cleaned and disinfected before you enter the property and removed when you leave.

Provide Disinfectant for Incoming Visitors

Provide visitors with a tub of disinfectant and a brush for scrubbing shoes for use before they enter your property, or provide shoe covers.
Vehicles entering and leaving your property should be kept away from animal areas or have their tires washed with disinfectant.

Additional Steps

Control your companion animals and poultry.
Control pests such as rodents and wild life.
Keep garbage and other waste from supplies and animal housing.
Evaluate feed purchased or brought onto the property and fed to animals.
Practice security and cleanliness in feed storage.

The take home message.

With infectious diseases, it's all about spreading germs. They can be spread in many ways, such as through direct contact with an infected person or animal or by direct contact with a contaminated object, consumption of contaminated food (salmonella) or water (cholera) or exposure to disease carrying insects (West Nile, numerous others).

With contagious disease, it's all about contact. The bottom line: have a good biosecurity plan in place on your farm/veterinary practice. Good hygiene, solid insect and parasite controls as well as limiting contact with suspect or new animals/people can help cut down disease problems. If any issues are noted or arise, don't wait; call your veterinarian, state veterinarian or extension agent. USDA can be reached toll-free at 833-663-8732.