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.

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.

Read more here.

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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.

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.

Read more at EquiManagement.

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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.

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.

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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.

Read more at Equine Disease Quarterly.

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The new strain of Hendra virus had not been seen in routine equine biosecurity testing, but has been detected in grey-headed flying fox samples from 2013. The samples collected in Adelaide share 99 percent of their sequence identity with the virus infecting the 2015 horse sample.

Prior to this discovery, Hendra virus was only known to occur in areas where black flying foxes and spectacled flying foxes live. The research team has developed diagnostic lab techniques to identify the new strain. They expect the currently available Hendra virus vaccine will be effective against the newly discovered strain.

The research team, led by Dr. Peter Reid, suggests that unwell horses living in areas where flying foxes are present should be treated with the same precautions as horses that have had a positive Hendra diagnosis, even if their initial Hendra test comes back negative.

The scientists suggest that preventative measures to curtail the spread of Hendra virus be put in place, including vaccination, good hygiene, the use of personal protective equipment and putting biosecurity measures in place.

Read more at Vet Voice.

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This virus could not be detected using current diagnostic tests for equine Rotavirus A and appears to be different than the virus strain used in the currently available commercial vaccine.

Efforts are underway to better characterize the virus and determine its role in the current outbreak of diarrheal disease. Additional investigations are also underway at UK to identify other possible causes, and researchers are sending out an epidemiological survey to farms to better understand the outbreak.

Both the Gluck Center and the Veterinary Diagnostic Lab recommend strict biosecurity protocols as the best protection strategy at this time.

See the March 19 news release for more information on this issue here.

Read more here.

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If you are in a high-risk area where there's a greater incidence of EHV-1 cases, the following tips may help ensure the horses in your care are protected from infection. These precautionary strategies come directly from Dr. Nathan Slovis, DACVIM, at Hagyard Equine Medical Institute. As an Internal Medicine Specialist and the Infectious Disease & Biosecurity Director, he has implemented the current Infectious Disease and Equine Emergency Response Programs at Hagyard.

Consider sharing these strategies with clients who have horses in high-risk areas.

1. Start monitoring your horse's temperature twice daily. Even if your horse has not been exposed, start recording their temperature now to understand what their normal baseline temperature is. A horse's temperature will usually spike prior to shedding significant amounts of the virus, and typically anything greater than 101.5°F should be considered a fever. If a fever is noted, you should isolate the horse to the best of your ability until a veterinarian can assess. It is recommended that any horse with a fever have both a whole blood sample and nasal swab submitted for PCR assessment for EHV-1 and EHV-4.
2. Limit exposure to any stressful situations that are not necessary. Examples include elective surgeries and other medical procedures. Minimizing stress will help protect the immune system so it can better fight off infection.
3. If your horse requires the use of corticosteroids, either systemically or intraarticularly, consult your veterinarian to see if it is feasible to stop administration. The continued use of corticosteroids can suppress the immune system and could hinder their ability to effectively fight off an infection.
4. Increase biosecurity measures since humans can inadvertently spread the infection on their hands, grooming equipment, etc. EHV-1 can survive on inanimate objects like halters, lead ropes, and tack, but is easy to kill on surfaces with disinfection. Therefore, these simple biosecurity measures can help stop the spread:

• Wash or sanitize your hands between interacting with each horse.
• Take care when filling water buckets and feed tubs – neither the hose nor the feed scoop should have contact with the bucket or tub.
• Minimize the use of shared equipment, disinfecting tack (bits, bridles, etc.) between horses. Items like water buckets and feed tubs should not be shared.
• There are a multitude of safe and effective disinfectants available. A few I recommend are a 1:4 ratio of bleach to water, or accelerated hydrogen peroxide-based disinfectants (like Rescue) since they are safe for both human and animal use.

5. Keep your horse up to date with their EHV vaccine schedule. If you horse has not been vaccinated against EHV three months prior to travelling into an area that has a high incidence of EHV, then I would recommend vaccinating your horse. If you are in a high-risk area, consult your veterinarian about the use of vaccines that have a high antigenic load for herpes virus so you can get a robust immune response. Remember, there is no vaccine on the market that can prevent the neurological form of EHV-1. The goal of vaccinating is to reduce the severity of clinical signs and reduce shedding of the EHV-1 virus if a horse does get sick.
   Some inactivated vaccines with the highest number of antigens for virus neutralization include Calvenza®, Pneumabort-K® and Prodigy®. Other vaccines like Rhinomune® are a modified live vaccine, and also have a high virus neutralization response.

6. If your horse is exposed or gets sick, contact your veterinarian to see what course of action they recommend. As mentioned, diagnosis requires the detection of the virus from either whole blood or nasal swab samples via PCR testing. If you are in a barn with a horse that has EHV-1, the use of the antiviral drug valacyclovir may decrease virus shedding and may help your horse from acquiring the infection. Veterinarians have also discussed the use of lysine to theoretically reduce viral replication. Horses can be administered safely 12 grams orally once daily in their feed. This has not been proven to prevent neurological forms of EHV-1.

In the neurologic form of EHV-1, the virus interacts with the blood vessels that supply the spinal cord. This inflammation in the blood vessels can cause a stroke-like event (blood clot), resulting in decreased blood flow to that portion of the spinal cord. To potentially prevent this from happening, veterinarians may prescribe anticoagulants like aspirin and/or heparin to prevent this from happening if your horse becomes clinical.

To learn more about Equine Herpesvirus, Dr. Slovis recommends referring to the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) website for accurate information and resources.

Read more here.

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There are multiple strains of the equine herpes virus, including EHV-1, which can cause respiratory disease, abortion, neonatal death or neurological disease. Some horses exposed to the virus will develop neurologic signs. There is no cure for the neurological symptoms associated with EHV-1.

On Feb. 3, a healthy 5-year-old horse that lived at the farm began stumbling when he walked. His symptoms worsened and he was euthanized later that day. Samples the attending veterinarian had taken were positive for EHV-1. The second horse that died from EHV-1 was a  20-year-old horse on Valentine's Day. Both horses had been vaccinated for EHV. 

Currently, 18 horses are sick, two are dead and five remain healthy. To try to keep the remaining horses disease free, staff has completely quarantined the healthy horses from the ill horses by building stalls on the property. They have also instituted biosecurity measures like limiting the people who see the infected horses, wearing hazmat suits and steaming hay nets to kill the virus. 

Owner Rae Becke believes a new horse that arrived at the facility on January 15 brought the virus with him from Toronto. She later learned that three horses at the horse's former facility had died from the virus on Jan. 29. Becke was never informed of the situation, so the new horse was turned out with Venturing Hills' equine residents. 

Read more at CityNews. 

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In order to continue to work, vets and farriers were mandated to establish protocols that followed state and local distancing, quarantine and decontamination guidelines. During lockdown, many equine clinics were able to continue to see emergency cases, but were unable to perform elective surgeries for multiple weeks.

When lockdown lifted, most clinics still didn't return to “normal”; many are unable to allow clients into waiting rooms or pharmacies, so workers meet their clients in parking lots to either take the horse from the owner or to deliver medications.

Many farriers are now unwilling to have clients or trainers hold horses while they are being shod, electing instead to have their assistants hold or to place the horse in crossties. Between clients, all tools are disinfected. Even when stay-at-home orders are lifted, may vets and farriers will keep their biosecurity practices in place to keep staff and clients safe.

Though the pandemic has changed the way equine professionals must interact with their clients, requiring much more interaction from a distance or via phone or text, equine professionals still strive to give their two- and four-legged clients the best of care.

Read more at Horse Illustrated. 

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VS is endemic in southern Mexico and occasionally travels toward the United States. In 2019, 1,144 premises were affected in eight states: Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and Wyoming. Thus far in 2020, premises in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas have been affected by the disease.

VS can be spread in two ways: through insect vectors and through direct contact with infected animals. To prevent either mode of transmission, increased biosecurity measures should be put in place. This includes implementing strategies to prevent contact of infected animals and contaminated items like feed troughs, tack and equipment.

Using fly spray, fly predators and other methods to control black flies and biting midges, which are known to carry the disease, is important to protect equines from VS. Biting midges love wet areas, so removing wet leaves and mud around troughs or ponds will help minimize potential habitat.

Though most insect activity occurs in warmer months, midges can be more cold-tolerant and spread the disease even in cooler months. It is not known if other insects can transmit the disease, so it's important to control insects on multiple levels, including premise, barn and animal level. This may include keeping horses inside at dusk and dawn or using fans to keep air moving; maintaining well-draining footing around water sources, mowing vegetation and reducing the use of bright lights at night, which attract insects.

Applying insecticides and repellents to animals that are outside is important, but they must be applied repeatedly to be effective. Fly masks, sheets and leg wraps can also be helpful, but must cover where VS lesions occur.

Read more at HorseTalk.

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