by: Erika Street

Although few of us would let our horses miss their yearly tetanus shots, we often overlook another important aspect of disease prevention: Disinfection. While vaccines go a long way toward averting disease, none are guaranteed to be 100% effective. More importantly, none are even available for organisms such as Salmonella, even though the infectious disease it causes can spread quickly through a herd, wreaking havoc on a horse farm.

Fortunately, regularly disinfecting barns and equipment can help keep such flare-ups at bay. While regular disinfection might seem labor-intensive and costly, you must consider the consequences of not disinfecting.

Last year’s outbreak of Salmonella newport at the University of Pennsylvania’s New Bolton Center serves as a grim example. Sixteen horses had tested positive for Salmonella either before or at their time of death, but it was unknown how many of those deaths were caused by the bacterium as many of the animals were critically ill upon admission. To control the disease’s spread, the George D. Widener Hospital for Large Animals was forced to close its doors to new patients last May and to sandblast, disinfect, and repaint the facility.

As the saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Routine disinfection is not just good horse management–it is a necessary component of an adequate disease prevention program.

Know How Diseases are Introduced

When planning a program to prevent infectious disease on your farm, you must first consider the most common ways diseases are introduced and transmitted. “Knowledge is power,” says John Poe, DVM, MPH, veterinary medical officer with the USDA, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), and former medical epidemiologist with the Kentucky Department of Public Health.

Once you understand how a particular disease is spread, you can create a targeted strategy to control the relevant factors in the environment. For example, if a particular disease common to your area is spread via insect bites, you must focus on controlling the mosquito and fly populations on your farm. On the other hand, if the disease you are concerned about can be transmitted through contact with bodily discharges or other substances in paddocks and stalls, disinfection of your facilities is an indispensable method of control.

Diseases such as strangles and salmonellosis are caused by bacteria that can survive and multiply outside living animals, particularly on moist surfaces and in the presence of organic matter. “Therefore, in addition to being spread by horse to horse contact, strangles is also frequently transmitted by fomites (objects on which pathogens can stick and infect other animals) such as contaminated twitches, lead shanks, grooms, and common watering tanks,” says Poe.

“The most common routes of spread of respiratory viruses such as influenza, equine rhinopneumonitis, and equine viral arteritis (EVA),” he continues, “are direct nose-to-nose contact, contact with nasal secretions, and aerosol transmission.”

This clearly illustrates the need for surface disinfection. Eliminating viruses and bacteria that survive in barns and stalls keeps diseases from being spread by environmental contamination.

Challenges for Disinfecting

Because of the complicated interactions between pathogens, disinfectants, and surfaces, there are many variables to consider before disinfecting your barn. The concentration of the disinfectant, the duration of its contact with the surface, the ambient temperature, the characteristics of the surface being disinfected, the presence of organic matter, and the target organism’s resistance to the disinfectant all affect how successful the process will be.

“Non-porous, smooth surfaces are the most readily cleaned and disinfected,” says Paul Morley, DVM, PhD, director of biosecurity for the Veterinary Teaching Hospital at Colorado State University. “The more organic material such as dirt or manure that is present, the less effective your disinfectants are going to be, and the more you’re going to have to use good old-fashioned soap and elbow grease.”

The fact that many disinfectants are deactivated by organic matter explains why the cleansing step of the disinfecting process is so important. According to a review by V.J. Fotheringham (see Disinfection of Livestock Production Premises in the March 1995 issue of Revue Scientifique et Technique), cleaning alone removes about 90% of bacteria, while a further 6-7% is removed by disinfection. In other words, spraying a dirty wall or floor with disinfectant won’t be very effective at killing pathogens.

Unfortunately, the design of many barns is not conducive to thorough cleaning–most stalls are lined with porous raw wood and have sand, dirt, or compact clay floors. These types of floors cannot be sufficiently cleaned and are impossible to disinfect with commercial disinfectants. While you do not have many options for improving dirt floors short of pouring asphalt, you can take steps to make porous walls easier to disinfect.

Roberta Dwyer, DVM, MS, Dipl. ACVPM, of the University of Kentucky’s Gluck Equine Research Center, suggests that after thoroughly cleaning walls you patch knots with wood filler and seal the walls with a varnish or polyurethane. The result is a smooth, waterproof surface that you can easily clean and disinfect.

Choosing a Disinfecting Solution

First, consult your veterinarian to see what pathogens are of particular concern in your area. Then when you are evaluating a disinfectant, take into account its efficacy in the presence of organic matter and hard water, its germicidal activity against your target pathogens, and its cost, as well as how safe it is to use around animals and humans.

For routine disinfection, you will want to combat a wide array of organisms and will therefore need a disinfectant with a broad spectrum of anti-microbial activity.

“On the other hand, if you’re going after a specific disease or agent,” says Morley, “you have to consider what you’re dealing with. For example, rotaviruses are non-enveloped viruses and they are only susceptible to a few kinds of disinfectants–these may not be the ones that you’re using for general disinfection.”

Commercially available disinfectants fall into ten major categories: Aldehydes, iodophors, hypochlorites (bleach), alcohols, chlorhexidine, quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs), phenols, alkalis, chlorine dioxide, and peroxygens.

Aldehydes (e.g. formaldehyde) are highly toxic compounds and are therefore not recommended for use in horse barns. The 10% iodophors, which are virucidal and bactericidal, are generally used for washing hands and cleaning equipment, not disinfecting equine facilities. Bleach, alcohols, and chlorhexidine are readily available and effective on most surfaces, but are quickly inactivated by organic matter. Because most equine pathogens are found in some type of organic matter–be it feces, urine, or nasal secretions–this renders such disinfectants useless in facilities where there is a significant amount of dirt or manure. QACs, which have a moderate activity level in the presence of organic material and a good hard water tolerance, are therefore a slightly better option for surface disinfection. These are commonly used in restaurant dining room and kitchens.

Phenolic disinfectants, however, have an even higher level of activity in organic material. Because they also kill rotavirus and Salmonella, two of the most difficult-to-control infectious diseases, phenols are generally considered the best choice for disinfecting horse barns. Their biggest drawback, however, is that they are caustic to skin, mucous membranes, and even metals. Therefore, if you decide to use a phenolic disinfectant (and when working with any chemicals) make sure to wear protective clothing and eye goggles!

Peroxymonosulfate, a peroxygen, and sodium hydroxide, an alkali, are also very effective in the presence of organic material. While sodium hydroxide is highly caustic, peroxymonosulfate has a low toxic potential when it is diluted with water (the powder form is extremely caustic)–an important characteristic if you are working in the presence of animals.

No matter what disinfecting solution you ultimately choose, make sure that it is EPA-approved and read the label instructions carefully. Do not mix chemicals under any circumstances!

Proper Cleaning and Disinfection

When preparing to disinfect your barn, allow lots of time, as there are several steps and drying time involved. Don’t plan on finishing in an hour!

The first step is to dispose of any manure, feed, and debris. Then thoroughly scrape and clean all surfaces in buildings and on equipment.

Once you have removed as much organic matter as possible, completely clean all surfaces by scrubbing them with a detergent and spray-washing them with a low-pressure hose.

After cleaning, rinse carefully from the top downward, making sure that all traces of the detergent are rinsed away. Then allow the surface to dry completely. Thorough drying ensures that the cleansing agent and water will not mix with the disinfectant and dilute it.

Once the surfaces that you plan to disinfect are clean and dry, dilute your disinfectant according to its instructions. Spray the disinfectant on all non-porous surfaces and allow it to dry. Do not rinse it off! Allowing the disinfectant to dry maximizes the contact time of the chemical with pathogens.

Do not neglect your shovels, pitchforks, or grooming equipment. This type of equipment can be soaked for 10 minutes to loosen any organic material, then scrubbed clean, sprayed with disinfectant, and allowed to dry. All buckets and feed tubs should be cleaned, sprayed with disinfectant, and rinsed with potable (drinkable) water.

Daily Biosecurity

While annually disinfecting your barn can help control the spread of disease, it is also important to take steps to minimize your horse’s health risks on a daily basis.

Good separation procedures are vital to preventing disease on your farm. “All horse operations that board transient populations should have two groups of horses,” recommends Poe, “the resident population that never travels off the premises and the transient population that travels to shows, exhibits, and trail rides. These two groups should be housed, handled, and grazed separately–permanently.”

Lyda Denney, DVM, New York State Horse Health Assurance Program Coordinator, recommends that when introducing a new horse to your farm, you isolate him for 30 days. “A quarantine area should be established prior to the arrival of new animals that is well-separated from the other animals on the farm,” she says. “The area should contain separate utensils, and separate clothing and footwear should be worn while inside.” Visiting or sick horses should also be kept there so they do not come in contact with or share air space with resident horses.

Even if you don’t have enough space on your farm to create this type of quarantine area, you should still keep new and sick horses separate from the rest of the herd. The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food suggests that if space is at a premium, you designate a stall near an outside door as the isolation area and feed and handle the animal there last. After a horse leaves the quarantine area, make sure to thoroughly clean and disinfect the stall and any equipment that was used on him.

While such biosecurity precautions are important, the general cleanliness of your barn is paramount. Because the survival time of a microorganism outside the host body is increased by the presence of organic soiling such as manure, the most effective way to keep disease from spreading throughout your farm is by keeping it clean and disinfecting it annually.

Cleaning After Infectious Horses

If you should ever have to clean up after an infectious horse, you will need to create a targeted plan to get rid of the disease in question. “First consider talking to an expert on infectious diseases like your veterinarian,” recommends Morley. “They can provide invaluable advice.”

Disinfection, although important on a routine basis, becomes urgent when you are caring for an infectious horse. During this time, the aisles must be swept, cleaned, and disinfected on a daily basis, and the stall of any diseased animal must be disinfected as soon as the horse has recovered.

Other horses in the barn must also be considered exposed and potentially incubating the disease. “You need to think very carefully about who you will expose by moving animals after they have developed signs of disease,” warns Morley. “What you could be doing is just spreading the disease around.”

While disinfection is effective at controlling the spread of disease, it cannot eliminate infections if carrier animals are continually added to susceptible populations.

It is also important to limit movement in and out of the isolation area. Footbaths containing a phenolic disinfectant should be placed outside each stall and at the entrance and exit of the barn, and all people who enter the isolation area should wear coveralls, caps, and rubber boots.

“Perhaps one of the most important–but overlooked–precautions is hand washing,” says Morley. “Sometimes your ability to wash hands in the field is limited, so I recommend using hand-sanitizing products and washing your hands both before and after handling a sick animal.

“You also need to be concerned about the potential for zoonotic infection,” cautions Morley. “Some agents like Salmonella can infect people. Make sure that you’re avoiding hand to face contact, and that people are not smoking or eating around these animals or their environments.”

Finally, Morley recommends that you think about the type of transmission when attempting to control the spread of disease. “Is it a respiratory disease, in which case you need to think about separating the air space? Or is it oral-fecal spread like rotavirus so you need to be concerned about where their feces go and the cleaning tools?”

By understanding how the disease in question is transmitted, you will improve your ability to control its spread.

Take-Home Message

By keeping your horses’ vaccinations up-to-date, maintaining a clean facility, instituting several simple biosecurity precautions, and regularly disinfecting your barns and stalls, you will be better able to prevent and control disease on your farm.

Source: http://www.thehorse.com

To learn about a vital addition to your newly disinfected stall, click the link below to learn more about how the use of Stall Genie products can improve the health of your horses and stall environment.

Stall Genie products offer a serious solution to Horse Odor in Stalls, promoting a healthier environment for your horses, and less maintenance for you.

Even great bedding cannot reduce age-old problems such as moisture and odor in your horse stalls. Stall Genie products offer a solution by helping to eliminate odor and moisture, which in turn has the effect of eliminating parasite and fly populations, and you will end up with a healthier horse due to the elimination of harmful ammonia odor.

Ammonia fumes caused by the buildup of urine, produce that pungent smell that overwhelms you when you enter your horses stall – now imagine, living and sleeping with this smell! Ammonia is also known to cause heaves in foals and other lung conditions which can reduce the performance and health of your competition horses. Stall Genie Products absorb harmful ammonia fumes and moisture, which result in peak performance from your horse and lower veterinarian bills.

To learn more about how Stall Genie Products can help your horse please click the banner below

Trailering your horses during the hot summer weather can pose many serious challenges to you, and health risks to your horses and animals – including dehydration and heatstroke.

It is important to take precautions during summer horse transport, and here are 6 tips to help you move your horses safely:

TIP 1: Trailer only during the coolest hours of the day.

TIP 2: Clear all horse trailer vents and obstructions for optimal airflow.

TIP 3: Always carry a bucket and 2-3 gallons of drinking water per horse.

TIP 4: Park only in shaded areas, or locations with good breezes and airflow.

TIP 5: Double check that your truck is in good running order (USRider recommends carrying two spares for your horse trailer).

TIP 6: Check traffic reports and do your best to avoid any traffic jams that would slow down your journey.

Be prepared for all possible outcomes such as breakdowns, delays, and less likely scenarios, and you should be able to safely transport your horses during the hot summer months.

When trailering your horses it is also smart to be aware of harmful ammonia fumes which can build up during horse transport – to improve the health of your horse consider using a product such as the Trailer Genie kit to absorb harmful ammonia gasses and keep them out of your horses lungs! Click the banner below to learn more.

Recently reported by thehorse.com, more than 830 of their readers responded to a poll asking, “What precautions do you take during hot weather when riding your horse?”

The Horse readers shared what they do to keep their horses cool in the results of their poll below, showing 7 of the most common responses on how readers keep their horses cool during the hot summer months.

The Stall Genie weekly blog articles feature tips and articles on common equine health conditions and what you can do to recognize, avoid, or treat them.

Horse Health
In general most peoples veterinarian bills are going up each year, with the cost for most horses around $200 a year – but if any health issues occur your bills can easily shoot over $1000 dollars in no time. Heeding these general horse health tips can help your horse stay healthy year round and avoid those costly vet bills.

Tip 1: Dental Care
A typical horse has 44 teeth. A simple test to check the oral hygiene is to give 4 to 5 kg of hay to the horse on an empty stomach. If the horse can eat continuously with both sides of its teeth, then the horse is having healthy teeth. If it does not eat, then it will be mostly due to pain in the teeth. In which case, it is better to show to a veterinary doctor. As the horses chew, their teeth gets worn out. This is not a problem as they keep growing teeth. But the wearing down action could result in pointed teeth, which may be filed down to prevent injury to the gum. It is advisable to learn the proper method of examining the teeth from your veterinary doctor. This will prevent last minute damage controls which can be rather painful to the horse, to you and to your pocket.

Tip 2: Exercise & Turn Out
Make sure you give your horses as much exercise as possible. Imagine, how you will feel if you are kept in one place for 18 to 20 hours. The major effect of not getting proper exercise for a horse can be colic, gut ulcers, limb issues, behavioral problems. Horses are gregarious animals who love moving and grazing around. They have to keep moving in order for breathing in fresh air, for circulation and for proper digestion. Pasture and company of other horses give a sense of safety and mental stimulation. Exercise gives proper lower limb circulation. Give exercise as much as possible. A horse should be taken outside its stable for at least 8 hours in a day. Younger horses will require at least 10 hours of turn out.

Tip 3: Healthy Stall
A healthy stall environment must have an excellent cushioning for animal comfort, a fresh water supply, ample room, it should be clean to reduce bacteria borne wet spots. The horse urine has harmful ammonia fumes leaving foals who sit close to the floor especially vulnerable; using a product such as Stall Genie can reduce harmful ammonia fumes and keep a healthy stall environment for your horses.

Tip 4: Get Educated on Breed Requirements
Learn about your horse’s special needs. Each breed has its own unique need. Breeds, susceptible to laminitis should be given less access to the spring grass. Appaloosas, which are little night blind may run in to a fence at night. Some are more resistant to cold weather. Some are less resistant to colic. Also take in to account the behavior and medical history of the horse.

Tip 5: Quality Food
It is very important to give natural food as much as possible. Pasture grass is very important. Hay can be given in winter. Digestive system related issues crop up in horses fed mainly on grain or commercial feed. Oat meal with apples and sugar is a good combination. Many horses like watermelon, pear, mango (no seed), papaya and guava. But first give a piece and see whether your horse likes or not. Berries like raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, and strawberries are good. Vegetables like carrots, celery, beet greens, peas, sweet potato greens, lettuce, plantain and green beans are also good. Few horses, after a little persuasion, starts eating these food items. Man-made food like Performance pellets must be given as per the direction of the veterinary doctor. Proper vitamins and minerals are needed for energy generation, muscle protection, maintaining immune system etc. To improve appetite it is better to give Vitamin-B rich food. Bran mash is recommended for working horses who does large amount of exercise. Not all horses like vegetables and fruits.

Tip 6: Check On Horses Regularly
Check your horse each day. Know its normal daily behavior. Like, whether it is a quiet grazer or runs around more. How much does it eat daily? Any symptoms of being unwell like drastic changes in daily routine, stopped eating, should be investigated. Colic, initial lameness can be easily treated if you are watchful. Daily watch and prompt treatment can reduce cost of treatment. Remove stones and other items from hooves daily. Check the horse for injuries and abnormalities during regular grooming.

Tip 7: Safe Pasture Area
Barb wired areas should be avoided. It can cause cuts and bruises. Take care for poisonous plants around the pasture area. Pasture with lot of green juicy grasses will be always welcome. It also is a place to meet fellow horses which will improve its communication skills reducing boredom and provides a sense of safety. This will reduce behavioral issues.

By Laurie Lawrence, PhD

One of the irritating compounds that can accumulate inside a horse barn is ammonia (NH3). High concentrations of ammonia in the air can irritate the mucous membranes of the eyes, nose, and mouth and possibly increase the susceptibility of animals to respiratory infections. In animal buildings aerial ammonia arises from urine and feces, so ammonia concentrations are usually highest near the floor.

Researchers at the University of Kentucky have examined the usefulness of an ammonia-absorbing compound applied to floors to control ammonia concentrations in horse stalls (Pratt et al, 2000, J. Eq. Vet. Sci. 20:197.) A commercially available ammonia-absorbing product (Sweet PDZ, Steelhead Minerals Inc.) designed for daily application to stall floors was tested in a four-stall barn containing mature Thoroughbred geldings. The dirt-floored stalls were cleaned every morning and bedded with straw.

All stalls were tested in the control condition (no ammonia-absorbing compound applied) and in the treated condition (ammonia-absorbing compound applied after cleaning in the morning). The researchers measured aerial ammonia concentrations expressed as parts per million (ppm) in two locations: near the horses’ heads with a device attached to their halters, and near the floor in the morning before the stalls were cleaned.

The ammonia-absorbing compound did not completely eliminate ammonia from the air in the stalls. However, stalls treated with the ammonia-absorbing compound had lower ammonia concentrations near the head and near the floor than the untreated stalls. At the end of two weeks, ammonia concentrations near the floor were about 25% lower than in the untreated stalls.

The researchers suggested the extent of the reduction in aerial ammonia might have been greater if measurements had been taken closer to the time of application instead of the morning after application. For example, when ammonia concentrations above three urine spots were measured before and 15 minutes following application of the ammonia-absorbing compound, ammonia concentrations were reduced by 60% or greater.

In addition to evaluating the effect of the ammonia-absorbing compound, the researchers in this study also documented changes in aerial ammonia concentration over the two weeks the geldings were kept in the barn. Ammonia concentrations remained relatively low during the first few days horses occupied the stalls, but then they increased rapidly, particularly near the floor. In the untreated stalls ammonia concentrations near the floor exceeded 200 ppm after seven days, even though the stalls were cleaned daily. The level of aerial ammonia that is unhealthy for horses is not known, however levels of 200 ppm ammonia are higher than those found to produce negative effects in other animals.

In this study ammonia concentrations measured near the halter remained relatively low in both treatment groups. Thus, it seems likely these normal adult horses were not exposed to a high level of ammonia. However, for foals or sick adult horses that spend significant amounts of time lying down, high ammonia levels near the floor might present a respiratory challenge. Application of an ammonia-absorbing compound to stall floors might reduce the ammonia exposure and possibly enhance well-being.

Article Source: http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=15077

Ideally a healthy horse should be outside in all but the worst weather; however, for horse owners who don’t have pasture to turn their horses out on, often face a huge battle facing health problems due to urine build up in the stable which releases harmful ammonia fumes, which overpower most people’s sense of smell as they enter their horses stable. These owners need a way for horse urine odor smell removal, and this can be achieved by using an ammonia absorbent.

Don’t risk the health of your horse by neglecting to use an ammonia absorbent product such as Stall Genie, which acts to absorb not only harmful ammonia but also reduces moisture reducing parasite and fly populations. Ammonia has been linked by several studies to cause respiratory diseases such as Heaves in horses, especially in young foals, you can read several of these studies by Clicking Here to visit our Education Resources.

Stall Genie Products can help you lower veterinarian bills and have a healthier horse:

• Absorbs Harmful Ammonia
• Absorbs Moisture
• Less respiratory problems
• Reduces fly/parasite population
• Non-toxic
• Easy to use

By using Stall Genie Products you will have increased the health of your horse, resulting in a healthier, happier horse, and lower veterinarian bills due to respiratory diseases caused by harmful ammonia exposure.