The American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) has published Field Diagnostic Guidelines for Equine Infectious Respiratory Disease on its website to help veterinarians evaluate and diagnose equine respiratory disease of unknown etiology—when the cause is unclear.   

Equine respiratory disease etiologies range from viral and bacterial infections to environmental allergens or inflammatory factors. Diagnostic testing to determine etiology is strongly recommended to provide targeted treatment strategies, implement biosecurity protocols if necessary, and support overall herd health. Multiple febrile animals or one or more horses with acute respiratory abnormalities and fever are suggestive of underlying infectious disease and should prompt practitioners to implement biosecurity practices and establish a quarantine on the premises.  

The diagnostic flowchart contained within the guidelines will help practitioners navigate their differential list (the list of possible diseases or conditions that could explain a horse’s clinical signs), sample collection, and diagnostic test selection to achieve a definitive diagnosis.  

 “There are many considerations involved in differentiating the cause of equine respiratory disease, so it is our hope that these field diagnostic guidelines will be a convenient and valuable resource for equine practitioners when confronted with such cases,” said Toby L. Pinn-Woodcock, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM, chair of the AAEP’s Field Guidelines Subcommittee and associate clinical professor in the Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, in Ithaca, New York.   

 Authored collaboratively by members of the AAEP Field Guidelines Subcommittee, the Field Diagnostic Guidelines for Equine Acute Respiratory Disease were reviewed and approved by the AAEP Infectious Disease Committee and board of directors. View the guidelines or save them to your mobile device at https://aaep.org/resource/equine-infectious-respiratory-disease-field-diagnostic-guidelines.   

 This is the third set of Field Diagnostic Guidelines published by the AAEP and follows previous issuance of similar step-by-step protocols for Infectious Neurologic Disease and for Acute Infectious Diarrhea. All AAEP Field Diagnostic Guidelines are accessible at https://aaep.org/guidelines-resources/field-diagnostic-guidelines.