Avoiding Antibiotic Resistance in Equine Medicine

Although antibiotic resistance is not as serious a problem for horses as it is for people, the equine industry should use antibiotics judiciously, so they will continue to work against bacteria that cause disease – not just for the benefit of h

Share
Favorite
Please login to bookmarkClose
Please login

No account yet? Register

ADVERTISEMENT

Although antibiotic resistance is not as serious a problem for horses as it is for people, the equine industry should use antibiotics judiciously, so they will continue to work against bacteria that cause disease–not just for the benefit of horses, but for people, too, said Steeve Giguère, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVIM.

At the 2010 Western Veterinary Conference, held Feb. 14-18 in Las Vegas, Nev., Giguère, professor and Marguerite Thomas Hodgson Research Chair in Equine Studies at the University of Georgia’s College of Veterinary Medicine, discussed ways to keep these important drugs working at a seminar sponsored by Pfizer Animal Health, maker of a new formulation of the antibiotic ceftiofur (Excede).

"Only use antibiotics when there is a strong likelihood that you are dealing with a bacterial infection," Giguère recommended. "For instance, if a horse has a high fever and a little bit of a snotty nose that horse is more likely to have a viral infection, and in that case, antibiotics would not be indicated."

Veterinarians also need to select the correct antibiotic for the organisms involved

Create a free account with TheHorse.com to view this content.

TheHorse.com is home to thousands of free articles about horse health care. In order to access some of our exclusive free content, you must be signed into TheHorse.com.

Start your free account today!

Already have an account?
and continue reading.

Share

Related Articles

Stay on top of the most recent Horse Health news with

FREE weekly newsletters from TheHorse.com

Sponsored Content

Weekly Poll

sponsored by:

In the past 12 months, have you spoken to your farrier about the benefits of nonmetal/synthetic/plastic horse shoes?
126 votes · 126 answers

Readers’ Most Popular

Sign In

Don’t have an account? Register for a FREE account here.

Need to update your account?

You need to be logged in to fill out this form

Create a free account with TheHorse.com!