Equine Biosecurity simply means protecting yourself and your horse from communicable diseases. As an equine practitioner, what I’m going to share with you is specific to your horses, but if you think about it, you can figure how to apply it to other species you have as well.
Transportation Biosecurity
When you are hauling your horse – whether to trail ride with friends or to compete at a large show – be sure to have your coggins with you, and a health certificate if you travel across state lines. A copy should live in your truck and in the trailer, and you should take a picture of them to save on your phone for when you lose the others! If you are showing, you should carry proof of vaccinations. It’s not unheard of for a show grounds to be locked down and quarantined. Some horses are allowed to leave if they have proof of vaccination by a veterinarian.
Equine Disease Transmission Biosecurity
Most diseases are transmitted by ocular, oral, or nasal secretions. For this reason, when traveling, do not share water buckets with other horses!!!!! Do not allow the hose end to drop into the water in your bucket. Do not share anything that will contact these secretions: halters, twitches, eye ointment, tubes of bute, bits, grooming materials, masks… Don’t dip your hand into the communal jug of horse treats if everybody else’s slobbery hands have dipped into it. If your horse or another horse seems ill, especially if they have a fever, isolate them from others immediately. Alert show personnel so that appropriate steps can be taken to avoid the spread of disease. When you return home, clean and disinfect buckets and equipment. Soap is not a disinfectant. Its job is to remove particles. A disinfectant is for killing microbes/germs. Clean with a soap, then disinfect. The most common disinfectants are Lysol and Roccal, but there are many available. Be sure to rinse the disinfectant off after the appropriate amount of time.
Quarantine Biosecurity
At home you should still be aware of isolating all newcomers to the boarding facility for a minimum of two weeks. This means no near contact with other horses, no sharing equipment, and caretakers tend to this one after all the others, and wash hands afterwards. When it leaves isolation, wash and disinfect the area. Any time you have had an illness running through the barn, be sure to disinfect. Do not drop the end of the water hose into buckets or troughs – there is always a slight vacuum when you turn it off and some of the water will be drawn into the hose and deposited into the next bucket. It is also very important to not allow old manure to pile up in paddocks and stables. It needs to be removed, not simply spread all the time, especially if you have dirt lots. The most common way horses are exposed to disease (excluded a sickie coughing on them) is contact with insects and rodents that carry the disease particles from horse to horse. You have to make effort to control these pests as part of your overall biosecurity program. As always, discuss your needs with your veterinarian. Vaccination and deworming are primary methods to avoid disease.
Recent Comments