Fever, nasal discharge, coughing, diarrhea, depression, anorexia, enlarged lymph nodes, behavior changes—even neurologic signs. From the subtle to the severe, these are all indicators that a horse might have an infectious disease. If your horse starts exhibiting any of these signs, take the situation very seriously and assume whatever he’s come down with is contagious to other horses until proven otherwise.
In the event your horse exhibits clinical signs of disease that might be due to an infection, here are some important steps to follow, remembering that response to an outbreak on a horse farm will vary based on the disease, facility, and other factors.
1. Isolate
Isolate the horse from other herd members. The sooner you respond to a suspected contagious disease incident, the better you can contain the disease and prevent the pathogen from spreading on or between farms.
2. Take Vitals
Take the sick horse’s temperature, pulse, and respiration rate, and relay this information, along with mucous membrane color and any other signs of illness, to your veterinarian immediately. Assume the horse indeed has a contagious disease until proven otherwise, and take actions (such as wearing gloves, washing hands, etc.) not to spread a pathogen to other horses or contaminate the environment when doing these procedures.
3. Gather Histories
Determine vaccination history of affected and potentially exposed horses, and provide it to the treating veterinarian.
If your veterinarian suspects a contagious disease, he or she might request a thorough history of the sick horse’s recent activities to help determine the source of infection and other horses or farms that might have been exposed.
4. Communicate
Your veterinarian might also request that you coordinate a meeting with all horse owners, barn staff, or other people who access the farm to discuss disease control protocols. Your veterinarian, meanwhile, should alert the proper state veterinary officials, if necessary, based on the suspected or confirmed disease.
5. Limit Traffic
Limit farm access to only necessary individuals—such as veterinarians, horse owners, and caretakers—if contagious disease is suspected or confirmed. To reduce foot traffic on the farm, designate an area at the facility’s entry where feed, hay, etc. can be delivered.
6. Assign a Spokesperson
During an outbreak on a horse farm, designate a spokesperson for your facility if media or other entities request information on the situation. Make sure that person is communicating clearly and regularly with the treating vet.
7. Assign a Caretaker
Designate one person as caretaker of the isolated horse(s) only. This individual should take necessary biosecurity precautions to prevent further disease spread by:
- Using disposable gloves when handling the sick horse.
- Wearing coveralls stored by the isolation stall.
- Wearing disposable boot/shoe covers or rubber boots that can be scrubbed and disinfected.
8. Assign Equipment
Also designate equipment for use on sick horses only. This includes halters, lead ropes, grooming equipment, buckets, and tools such as pitchforks, shovels, wipe rags, and rakes—all these could transmit pathogens from the active shedder. It is important to keep water hoses off the ground and designate a hose for use with the isolated animal only when filling water buckets.
9. Monitor Horses
Take each horse on the property’s temperature twice daily, and maintain a record of these, noting fevers as well as any additional clinical signs of disease and date of onset. This helps identify additional sick animals as well as infected ones that are on the upswing. If a previously healthy horse develops a fever, call your veterinarian right away.
Work with your veterinarian to monitor horses and determine proper isolation times. Typically, it’s at least 30 days after no new cases are identified, depending on the disease diagnosis.
10. Provide Updates
Provide frequent detailed updates on the situation to everyone involved with the farm. This helps keep people informed, calm, compliant, and less likely to rely on rumors.
11. Disinfect
Once the disease outbreak has passed and horse movement resumes (based on testing and/or time since the last signs of disease), horses and humans can return to their daily routines. But first, thoroughly clean and disinfect any housing, equipment, or clothing that came into contact with the sick horse(s) to prevent a renewed outbreak. Then review your facility’s biosecurity measures to see if there are areas where you can improve the farm’s infection control practices going forward.
While it’s important to remember these steps in the face of an outbreak on a horse farm, even more critical is preventing disease in the first place. Work with your veterinarian to define your biosecurity needs, create an infection control plan, and keep your horses’ vaccinations up to date.
Related Reading:
- Safe and Sound: A Guide to Biosecurity for Horses
- Equine Vaccinations: What Your Horse Needs and When
- Is My Horse Sick, and Do I Need to Call the Vet?
This article originally ran on TheHorse.com.
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