Editor’s Note: This article is part of TheHorse.com’s ongoing coverage of topics presented at the 9th International Conference on Equine Infectious Diseases, held Oct. 21-26 in Lexington, Ky.

Equine veterinarians are not just for giving shots, performing exams, and addressing disease and lameness. These individuals are also uniquely equipped to tailor infectious disease prevention programs, noted one biosecurity-focused researcher at the 9th International Conference on Equine Infectious Diseases.

Boarding farms, training facilities, veterinary practices, and even small private horse farms can benefit from these programs; it’s simply a matter of veterinarians letting clients know these services are available, said Josie Traub-Dargatz, DVM, MS, Dipl. ACVIM, a professor in the population health section of the Department of Clinical Sciences at Colorado State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences. She described advantages of providing infectious disease prevention consultations during the conference Practitioners’ Day, held Oct. 21 in Lexington, Ky.

Most physicians, like many veterinarians, don’t consider themselves "infection preventionists," she explained; rather, they label themselves as health care providers, diagnosticians, and caregivers to individual patients. "As a veterinarian, we haven’t lost the ability to be all of these things," she said