Awkward Quarantine situation - help please!

[equiniphile]

As someone that works at a vet clinic and is heading to vet school in the fall…I don’t think your precautions are overkill. A health certificate in this line of work means that the horse appeared healthy, with no fever, up to 30 days ago. In some states, that 30 days extends to 6 months. A lot can happen in that amount of time. There are infectious diseases with fairly long incubation periods, and in my experience, the barns that we tend to treat most often for infectious diseases tend to be the shadier barns in the area. I don’t think your precautions are extreme given the knowledge you have about the horse’s former living situation, and in my opinion, quarantine is never a bad idea.

I would simply let the previous owners know that you have a strict quarantine protocol for new horses and don’t allow people to touch horses on the property if they’ve recently been at another barn. End of story.

[2DogsFarm]

@equiniphile Every venue I’ve been to that asked for a health certificate specified it had to have been issued in the last 10 days.
Which is why I often hauled to my vet’s clinic so horse was examined in the trailer. Got my signed certificate & continued to wherever.

[equiniphile]

@2DogsFarm

@equiniphile Every venue I’ve been to that asked for a health certificate specified it had to have been issued in the last 10 days.
Which is why I often hauled to my vet’s clinic so horse was examined in the trailer. Got my signed certificate & continued to wherever.

That’s not something I’ve run into, but I like the idea of a 10 day expiration on HCs. I’ve shown in 10 states and have never been asked for a HC that’s been issued less than 30 days ago.

In Ohio at least, even if the venue were to specify it be issued less than 10 days ago, vets are still allowed to issue a HC within 30 days of seeing the horse. So in Ohio at least, a vet could issue a HC on a horse that they saw and temped 30 days ago and the HC would be valid at the showgrounds for an additional 10 days. So even with a 10 day rule, the last time they vet laid eyes on the horse could be 40 days ago.

GlobalVetLink now allows for EECVIs (extended equine certificates of veterinary inspection) to be issued to horses in AL, AR, FL, GA, ID, KS, KY, MD, MN, MO, MS, MT, NC, NM, OK, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV and WY. They’re good for 6 months and allow the horse to travel to and from any of the above states. Whether the showgrounds/campgrounds/barn accepts them is another story, but it could complicate things and let more sick horses travel, whether the owner is aware of the illness or not.

[BeeHoney]

OP, you are totally overthinking this. At a horse show your horse mixes with many other animals. People interact with one horse and then another. Your clients or workers could easily come to the barn straight from another barn. Your own vet and farrier come to your barn after they have been at other barns. Presumably they wash their hands and take precautions if they have been somewhere where there is known to be a contagious illness, and certainly hand washing and foot baths are standard practice when dealing with vulnerable populations like mares and foals. A horse from a smaller sketchy barn with little traffic is less likely to be a carrier of a dangerous illness than a horse that is coming from the racetrack or show circuit.

If you want to be as conservative as possible, and if strangles is what you are worried about, why not have the vet do a guttural pouch swab?

[equiniphile]

@BeeHoney

If you want to be as conservative as possible, and if strangles is what you are worried about, why not have the vet do a guttural pouch swab?

Because Strangles isn’t the only disease she should be worried about. And because most vets don’t culture or do PCR in house, so the vet would need to visit the horse again to take a sample, then wait a few days before the results come back before bringing the horse to the property. Additionally, a guttural pouch swab culture can come back negative in a horse whose PCR sample is positive. Finally, the incubation period for Strangles means that the horse could test negative for both but end up coming down with Strangles later.

These are all fairly uncommon scenarios, sure, but I truly don’t see the harm in a short quarantine and limiting exposure to the other horses if it’s something the barn is willing to take on…especially if the horse is coming from a barn with a less-than-stellar track record. IMO, it’s just easier to tell the old owner/driver/agent that SOP dictates no one is allowed to touch a horse that has been in contact with other horses without changing clothes and sanitizing.

[nashfad]

You say “I am sorry, walking around premises is not an option due to QT restrictions and current equine health situations around the country”.

[BeeHoney]

I think that if the OP wants to increase her biosecurity measures, she should be consistent. There are many dangerous equine diseases out there, I’m not denying that. My point is that it makes no sense to single this one horse (and the previous owners) out. Good biosecurity is about having a consistent overall plan, not singling one horse and two people that have “cooties.”

The worries about various dangerous diseases are completely real. But horses that are coming and going from shows, clinics and group trail rides where they are mixed with horses from many different barns are at a much higher likelihood of bringing home diseases like flu, EHV, and strangles vs. a horse from a local barn that has poor management practices (unless it is a sales barn with many horses coming and going). Perhaps the OP should use this experience to re-think his/her overall biosecurity plan, because, again, singling one horse and two people out does not make sense.

The OP’s main concern seemed to be that this horse might be a strangles carrier. In that case, she should work with her vet to clear that item off the list, but truly any new horse coming to the barn could be a carrier. If the new horse IS a carrier, a short quarantine and being fussy with the people dropping the horse off isn’t going to prevent anything, because a carrier is not likely to either clear or get sick within a short period of time. Again, horses from the OP’s barn traveling to and from shows and events could easily be coming in contact with strangles carriers at any time.

Perhaps there is something I’m missing… if there is any evidence of current illness at the barn the new horse is coming from, the new horse should not set foot on the property.

For reference, some of the most famous and valuable racehorses in the world entertain many human visitors on a fairly up close basis. I can’t help but wonder if the restrictions the OP wants to place on the people in question are based more on an emotional response to his/her opinions on their horse management vs. actual risk.

[EmilyM]

i would just be honest and say that you have a quarantine process for any new horses. Since they’ve handled said new horse they have to follow protocol.