ecurity plan in place before an outbreak occurs, so you know how and where horses will be isolated and what procedures will be followed. "Coming up with a plan as a situation develops is difficult," Dr. Traub-Dargatz says.
|If infectious disease breaks out at your barn, work with your veterinarian to determine the cause and limit the spread. Specifics of control vary by disease because different disease-causing agents spread in different ways and can linger in the environment for varying times. (AAEP has disease-control guidelines on its website, www.aaep.org.) Here are steps that apply to most diseases that spread horse to horse.
- Isolate the sick horse. Move him to a separate barn or a stall as far from other horses as possible, if you can, and make the isolation area off-limits to everyone except essential caregivers. Keep out anyone—even dogs and cats—who could track germs through your barn.
- If you can't isolate the sick horse, let him stay in his stall but limit his contact to essential caregivers. Don't move neighboring horses; they have probably already been exposed and could spread the disease.
- Feed, muck and care for the sick horse last (or dedicate staff to his care) to reduce the risk of spreading infection. Use separate equipment for him or disinfect equipment after use. Compost his used bedding and manure in a separate pile, and don't spread it on areas where horses are kept.
- Keep a pair of coveralls, some old boots and a box of disposable latex gloves nearby to wear -exclusively when working with him. Put a disinfectant foot bath or foot mat outside the stall door to step in when you're done. Wash your hands thoroughly and follow with hand-sanitizing gel with at least 61 percent alcohol.
- Turn out the sick horse (if he's well enough) in a separate paddock. Don't let him share water or have contact with other horses. For some diseases it's enough to avoid nose-to-nose contact; for flu, which spreads via airborne droplets, keep the sick horse at least 150 feet from other horses.
- Cancel show entries and travel plans. Keep exposed horses on your property—and don't let new horses come in—during the outbreak.
- Monitor healthy horses. Take temperatures twice daily, watch for other signs of disease and quickly isolate new cases.
- When the sick horse recovers, wait for a green light from your vet before you return him to the group. He may seem OK, but he could still be spreading infection.
- Thoroughly clean and disinfect the stall and all equipment after isolation ends. (You can find disinfection guidelines online at the Iowa State University Center for Food Security & Public Health website, www.cfsph.iastate.edu/Disinfection.)
Some steps aren't feasible for every barn. For example, a large facility with ample space and staff might have a designated competition area separate from resident horses. That would be impossible at most smaller barns.
If you board your horse, you may have little control over many of these procedures but every stable should have a biosecurity plan, Dr. Traub-Dargatz says, and boarders as well as management can help shape it. "A boarding facility might want to hold a 'town hall' meeting where owners, trainers, managers and veterinarians discuss what the concerns are and what the plan might be," she suggests.
Where several veterinarians treat horses at the same facility, management should choose one to advise on biosecurity, Dr. Traub-Dargatz suggests. "Developing a biosecurity plan may seem simple at first, but you really need to think through the details and make sure everything is in place and that there is agreement on the plan," she notes. She recommends doing a walkthrough of your facility with someone who understands infectious disease. "This is where the details come into focus. For example, are you telling people to wash their hands, but there's no soap and water? They're not going to do it."
Once the plan is in place, be fair and consistent in applying it. "Make sure everyone knows what decisions have been made and why," she says. "If people understand the protocols and 