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Quarantine: Preventing DiseaseBy Kentucky Equine Research Staff · March 14, 2011
The new horse is arriving today! When the big bay gelding walks off the van, everybody comments on how good he looks. You put him in a stall for an hour to rest after the trip and then turn him out with the other geldings. There's a little running around at first, but soon they all settle down to graze like long-time buddies. All is going well.
Several days later, four of the geldings from that field are coughing, runny-nosed, and off their feed. The word “quarantine” pops into your head, and you realize it's too late.
It's inconvenient to separate a new horse for the two or three weeks necessary to be sure it is not going to bring illness into your stock. However, keeping the horse isolated from other animals is the safest procedure to prevent the spread of disease. During this period, the new horse should be monitored for signs of illness and should be cared for after the other horses have been handled. Don't share buckets, brushes, blankets, or tack with other horses until the new horse has been proven healthy.
Ideally, any horse that leaves the farm for any reason—breeding, show, sale, trail ride—should be quarantined when it returns, but following this routine is probably not realistic for many horse owners. Even without putting new horses in weeks of quarantine, there are management steps that can minimize the chances of bringing disease in or spreading it within a farm.
- Keep horses in groups by similar age and use. Don't mix show horses that travel frequently with weanlings, yearlings, or broodmares.
- Isolate sick horses and those returning from hospitalization. Care for these animals after tending to healthy ones, and have a separate set of grooming and stall-cleaning equipment for the isolation area.
- Set up hand-washing facilities in the barn and train employees to use them after handling each horse and as they move between barns. Use alcohol-based hand sanitizers. When in doubt, wear gloves when handling sick horses.
- Have a schedule for routine cleaning of buckets, grooming implements, stall tools, wheelbarrows, and other stable equipment. During times when horses are sick, increase the frequency of cleaning and disinfecting these items.
- If communicable disease crops up in a locality, limit farm visitors to only essential personnel. Route vehicles so that they do not pass near barns or fields where vulnerable animals such as broodmares and foals are kept.
- Be sure all horses are current on immunizations.
- Don't spread manure from the stalls of sick horses or mares that have lost a foal. Compost this material or dispose of it off the farm using methods approved by local health ordinances.
