Routine Biosecurity Protocols
WL709 Routine Biosecurity Protocols Should local government guidelines not be immediately available, ESC recommends the following American Equine Practitioners biosecurity guidelines which can also be found at 2026 AAEP Bio Security Guidelines - full version
1. Equine entry onto the premises
a. Routine requirements
i. For events or stables, restrict entry to healthy equids only and set policy for refusing entry of equids displaying clinical signs of infectious disease (see Section III.b.iii). Ideally, staff should observe equids upon arrival to confirm animal identification, check health documents and observe equids for general signs of good health. Consideration can be given to the requirement for a recent certificate of veterinary inspection (CVI) and certification by the exhibitor or owner regarding the horse's recent disease exposure history. ii. New entries to stables where there are long-term resident equids should be isolated from the resident equids for 2-3 weeks and monitored for signs of contagious disease. During this time, equipment should not be shared among new and resident equids, and caretakers should ideally follow protocols described in Section III. AAEP BIOSECURITY GUIDELINES © Copyright AAEP – Revised 2022 iii. Resident equids returning to their home stable from an event should be fully isolated or at least have their temperatures checked twice daily for at least 1 week to allow early detection of disease. iv. It is good practice to segregate equids on a facility by use and age. For example, show equids should be segregated from resident broodmares and their foals.
v. Premises may require that equids have documentation of specific vaccinations (See AAEP Vaccination Guidelines for recommendations).
1. For premises with increased public exposure risks, a rabies vaccination requirement is prudent to protect both animal and public health. vi. Apply animal health standards for other species of animals (e.g., cattle) entering the premises.
1. Recommend housing different species of animals separate from equine populations. vii. Equids belonging to the same owner or trainer should be housed together with empty stalls between groups of equids if possible.
b. Requirements for entry during local disease outbreak
i. When an infectious disease outbreak occurs locally, additional restrictions should be applied for animal entry to events or stables. ii. Restrict entry to equids for which the owner/agent provides a CVI issued within 7 days of arrival at the event venue. A CVI issued 72 hours before arrival is optimal. If a CVI is not required, then an owner/agent declaration statement attesting that the listed equid(s) arriving at the premises has/have been healthy with no clinical signs of a contagious disease or body temperature(s) above 101.5°F (38.61°C) for the preceding 7 days may be warranted. iii. Additional health requirements may be required such as a written statement on the CVI which attests to the equid’s health and exposure status. For example, an additional requirement may include a statement that “The listed equid(s) has/have not been on a premises with a confirmed case of neurologic form of EHV-1 in the preceding twenty-one (21) days” if there is a local outbreak of neurologic EHV-1.
c. Facility records should be maintained on equid movements (entering, remaining on, and exiting the premises), location of individual animals, and equid health status procedures (monitoring and treatment records).
2. Equine Health Monitoring
a. Continuous health monitoring of all equids on the premises should be required. This is the key to early identification and containment of infectious disease with minimal disruption.
i. Options include having designated staff performing periodic walkthroughs of stables to directly observe equids for any clinical signs of disease or relying on self-reporting of disease by exhibitors or owners (the requirement for which should be stipulated in entry forms or boarding agreements). AAEP BIOSECURITY GUIDELINES © Copyright AAEP – Revised 2022 ii. Any sign of disease should be reported to the designated individual with the authority to initiate immediate disease control measures, such as isolation. iii. Requirements at events should include taking equid temperatures twice daily and documenting temperature readings in a log. Consider requiring the posting of a temperature monitoring log on the stall door which allows designated staff to easily perform checks on temperature recordings. To ensure compliance with the equid temperature monitoring requirement, staff should perform random audits of logs. iv. Owners of equids at boarding stables should be instructed to report clinical signs of disease in their equid to the facility owner or manager.
CHAPTER 8 - CONTROLLED MEDICATIONS POLICY