Agritourism is becoming a big industry. As our society gets more urbanized, there’s increasing interest in visiting farms and similar environments. Things like farm visits and petting zoos can be great, especially for kids. They’re also sometimes associated with infectious diseases, most often in kids.
Some agritourism events are well run and take a lot
Infection control isn’t rocket science. Wash your hands, don’t eat that, keep your finger out of your nose… things you learned in kindergarten go a long way to preventing infections. The basic nature of the core infection control concepts is also a barrier – hand washing isn’t fancy, new or associated with some fancy machine.
As part of an ongoing commitment to infection control and biosecurity in horses, Equine Guelph has released a series of new videos and other resources. They are available for download for free here.
Equine Guelph has announced a series of equine biosecurity workshops across Ontario which will take place during the month of March 2012. The sessions are free to attend and will focus on how to apply basic and practical concepts of infection control to reduce the risk of disease exposure and outbreaks in horses of all
Pigeon fever is an equine disease that doesn’t have anything to do with pigeons. It’s an infection caused by the bacterium Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis which results in the formation of abscesses, usually along the chest (pectoral region) and lowest part of the abdomen. The name "pigeon fever" comes from the swelling in the chest region that
Equine Guelph has received funding for Beat the Bugs, a new equine biosecurity venture. The program has been funded by the Agricultural Biosecurity Program, a Canadian federal-provincial-territorial initiative.
From ongoing cases of strangles to large outbreaks of EHV, it’s abundantly clear that infection control is a critical area for the equine industry
Quarantine is an important, effective and underused practice on horse farms. Quarantine can reduce the risk of introducing new infectious agents to animals on the farm or limit the spread of something that’s already starting to circulate through the herd.
A recent article from TheHorse.com gives a good overview of why and how to implement
There are a lot of recommendations out there for establishing or improving sound infection control practices on horse farms, many of which can be found on this very blog. Some refer to such practices as "biosecurity," but what’s done on horse farms compared to the often very strict biosecurity protocols at facilities such as swine
After an extensive development and review process, an Equine Biosecurity Risk Calculator (click here) is now available online on the Equine Guelph website. This joint venture of Equine Guelph and Colorado State University, with support from the AAEP Foundation and Vetoquinol, is designed to offer practical advice on equine infectious disease risk and
The recent (or, I guess, not so recent, since it seems to have been lingering in the background for a while) contagious equine metritis (CEM) outbreak in the US was a good demonstration of the potential impact venereally transmitted diseases can have on the horse industry. Concerns about such things are greatest in breeds that
